The Reorganization Plan Simplified

The Reorganization Plan Simplified

On January 11, 2011 the reorganization committee presented the 48 page plan that it has spent many hours over the course of the last year to develop. The purpose for this article is not to influence ones opinion of the plan but rather to boil it down into a short and understandable text of just what the author’s of the plan are hoping that we will be asked to vote on in 2012.

Adoption of the proposal will be by a majority of the residents of the entirety of Vanderburgh County and there will be no threshold criteria for either the City of Evansville or unincorporated Vanderburgh County.

The Goals: Taken from the Preamble

The Combined Government is designed to, and must endeavor to:

• operate with efficiency, simplicity, and clarity;
• foster and embrace creative, forward thinking solutions to problems facing the community;
• ensure accountable, transparent, responsive and ethical government;
• encourage community and stakeholder participation in the civic decision-making process;
• elect, appoint and employ professional, ethical and qualified leadership;
• distribute the cost of the Combined Government in a fair and equitable manner; and
• preserve our unique balance of rural and urban lifestyles.

Governance and Boundaries: The City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County governments will cease to exist in favor of a new and yet unnamed governing body that will encompass all of Vanderburgh County with the exception of the City of Darmstadt.

The first election will be held in 2015 and the offices will be seated on January 1, 2016 assuming passage of reorganization. The Mayor will be the Chief Executive and will serve 4 year terms with no term limits. All other executive positions will be appointed by the Mayor and will not require the advice or consent of the common council.

The Common Council will be made up of 11 members, 8 of which are from defined geographic areas each consisting of approximately 1/8 of the population of Vanderburgh County and 3 at large members. County elected offices will be retained and the City Clerks position will be eliminated.

Finance and Budget: The City Controller will be eliminated and replaced with a Director of Budget and Finance who will be appointed by the Mayor. This person shall be responsible for forming a budget and assuring that the accounting is done in a timely manner.

Tax rates will be set by the Common Council and all changes that are as a result of consolidation will be phased in over a three year period. Sewer rates will be equalized over a three year phase in period.

There will be a General Service District that has services that are provided to all of Vanderburgh County and an Urban Service District that will roughly correspond to the current City of Evansville but will be determined by receiving traditional “city” services.

Departments and Boards: All boards that are not expressly eliminated will be continued. The Mayor and Common Council shall appoint these boards and the boards will report to the Mayor.

The City and County Departments shall be combined resulting in a Department of Transportation and Services, Code Enforcement, Law Enforcement under the management of an elected Sheriff, and Fire Protection that will see no change from its current format. The Directors of the Zoo, Burdette Park, and the Botanical Garden shall report directly to the Mayor.

Transition: The Transition Board shall include at least the following members:

 Two Members of the City Council, selected by the City Council
 Two Members of the County Council, selected by the County Council
 Mayor of Evansville, or his designee, and one other selected by the Mayor
 One of the County Commissioners, and one other selected by the County Commissioners
 One Member of the (former) Evansville Police Department, selected by the Mayor
 The Sheriff or his designee
 Two Members of the Government Reorganization Committee, one being selected by the
Mayor and one being selected by the County Commissioners.

Specific Duties of the Transition Board shall include establishing the boundaries of the districts from which district members of the Common Council are elected, as provided in Indiana Code 36-1.5-4-7(2), and adopting tax levies, tax rates and a budget for the Combined Government for its first year of operation, as provided in Indiana Code 36-1.5-4-7(1).

Property, Assets, Contracts, and Pensions: The summary here is that everything that the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County owns at the date of consolidation shall be deeded to the new combined government, all contracts signed and in process by both the City and County will be honored, and all pension obligations of both governments shall become obligations of the new governing body.

Debts: The combined indebtedness of the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County shall become the indebtedness of the new Consolidated Government which shall levy taxes for the purposes of servicing the transferred debt only within the previous boundaries of the entity that made the debt in the first place. For example, the Arena bonds and all other City of Evansville debt will be serviced from taxes levied within the boundaries of the City of Evansville immediately before consolidation.

Government Employees: City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County employees will become employees of the Consolidated Government according to the same terms that existed the day before consolidation.

Resolutions and Ordinances: Where there are no inconsistencies all resolutions and ordinances will remain in effect. Where inconsistencies exist there will be a two year period of two years during which the Transition Board will merge the inconsistencies.

Land use and firearms restrictions within the Urban Services District will continue according to the current restrictions of the City of Evansville and the General Service District will continue according to current Vanderburgh County rules.

The entire plan is available to read at the following link:

http://media.courierpress.com/media/static/Evansville-Vanderburgh_Reorganization_Plan_Final.pdf