Residents, trustees clash over proposed merger of New Durham, Center and Springfield townships

Trustee Kelly Tanger proposed a voluntary merger of New Durham, Center and Springfield townships during a public meeting focused on preserving township assistance as state funding tightens. Tanger, who said she spends most of her time on township assistance (poor relief) and ensuring fire protection, told residents the plan would keep existing township boundaries but treat the three as one administrative unit, reduce overhead, and create satellite offices so residents would not have to travel to Springfield for services.

The proposal is framed as a response to recent state-level changes. Tanger told the meeting she has followed developments, cited concerns about Senate Bill 1 and declining funding, and said the merger would let trustees "be more efficient, and we're gonna be able to provide more services." She also sought to correct misconceptions, saying the merger "does not restructure our fire departments" and that taxes "are not going up with this merger" though savings would be modest.

Lydia, a trustee whose township completed a merger that took effect Jan. 1, 2022, described how her merged office retained borders for individual townships while consolidating administrative functions. Lydia said the state still treats merged units as separate deposits for some funds and that the merger allowed staff to keep regular office hours, run a food pantry and direct people to services: "That one-stop shop gets them taken care of," she said. Lydia also described an Indiana Trustees Association (ITA) scorecard being developed to assess compliance with state financial rules and said a senator is prepared to carry follow-up legislation this session.

Opposition at the meeting was strong and wide-ranging. Robert Lauter (who goes by Ryan) and several other residents said the process has fostered distrust and warned that the change would centralize power in Center Township under an official many residents had not elected. "Power will be centralized with Lisa and Center Township. We did not vote for Lisa," Lauter said, urging trustees to slow the process and give voters time to weigh the change. Other residents raised technical concerns about fire-protection mutual-aid, ISO ratings and homeowners insurance, asking whether a merged township could affect their premiums. Trustees repeatedly replied that fire contracts and local fire arrangements would remain in place.

Speakers also debated the scale of need for township assistance in New Durham. Tanger and meeting participants cited an average of roughly 44 assistance applications a year for New Durham; speakers disagreed on whether that caseload justified a merger or could be handled with modest local changes such as regular office hours or an additional staff member. Several residents emphasized homelessness and food security as reasons the community needs reliable, staffed services.

Legal and procedural questions were discussed on the record. An attorney at the meeting cited merger statutes, identifying the merger section as 36-6-1.5 and the dissolution process as 36-6-1.6; he said a petition to undo a merger can be started by property owners (threshold: 10% or at least 50 freeholders), which would trigger a county council public hearing. Attendees were also told the merger process has a timetable: if the trustees do not complete required steps by the end of this year, the merger cannot be attempted again until 2027 because of the 2026 election cycle.

No formal vote took place at the meeting. Trustees said they welcome questions and offered to provide more documentation, maps and scorecard materials; residents asked for more time, clearer outreach and a fuller accounting of service, budget and insurance implications before any final decision. The trustees did not set a vote date during the meeting.

Next steps noted at the meeting included distributing maps and the ITA scorecard materials and answering follow-up questions about mutual-aid and budget details. Residents were advised about the statutory dissolution path and the calendar constraints tied to upcoming elections.