Committee advances bill allowing portion of Cumberland to become an excluded city from UNIGOV

A state House bill to change the UNIGOV status of the Marion County portion of the town of Cumberland cleared the Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee after officials from the town and local lawmakers answered questions on taxes, fire coverage and debt-service arrangements.

Representative Rhett Miller, the bill sponsor, told the committee the legislation would make the Marion County portion of Cumberland an "excluded city" while preserving the town's name, boundaries and elected officers. "This legislation actually applies to only the portion of Cumberland, located in Marion County," Miller said. He told the committee that after 12/31/2026 "the town remains a town government" and "the term of any elected or appointed officer of the town is not affected."

The bill matters because it would shift zoning, permitting and growth-control authority that currently rests with the consolidated city of Indianapolis to the town government on the Marion County side, proponents said. "They really don't have control of…