Bettina Puckett, Shelbyville News Staff Writer
Only a small part of northwestern Shelby County belongs to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization, but Shelby County - along with several of its neighbors - has declined participating in the group's programs.
The Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 on Monday to again deny matching funds requested by the MPO.
Shelby County had received an invoice from the MPO for $1,431 for its portion of the 2008 Unified Planning Work Program. The county also was asked to pay $2,217 for its part in the MPO's Northeast Rapid Transit Study activities.
The Northeast Rapid Transit System is a light-rail system planned to be built from downtown Indianapolis to Hamilton County, an area with a steadily growing population and increasing traffic congestion. The project is now in its second phase of planning and needs matching funds to proceed.
"I just don't feel like we ought to be taking money out of Shelby County and giving it to Marion County and Hamilton County to go along with that mass transit (project) they are trying to do in Fishers," said Tony Newton, president of the commissioners. "They have created their own problems up there, and they are trying to get other counties to bail them out. We don't feel it's a good use of taxpayer dollars. We feel that it's their duty to take care of their own county."
Each urbanized area with a population of 50,000 or more is required by federal regulations to have a designated metropolitan planning organization. The MPO is charged with conducting a continuing, cooperative and comprehensive transportation planning process, said the Indianapolis MPO's Web site.
In Shelby County, Moral Township, plus portions of Sugar Creek and Brandywine townships, are included in the Indianapolis MPO.
"For the past couple of years, they have sent us a formal request to help pay for their operating expenses," said Amy Dillon, executive director of the Shelby County Planning Department.
Although Shelby County is not receiving direct benefits from the MPO projects, Dillon said the county does receive indirect benefits, such as research data that is collected, plus aerial photography.
Dillon attends meetings of the Indianapolis MPO, which meets quarterly.
The present metropolitan planning area is based on the 2000 Census and includes all of Marion County and portions of the surrounding counties of Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Shelby, Morgan and Johnson where suburban growth has occurred.
The population for the portion of Shelby County that is included in the planning area is 4,424, according to the census. The metropolitan planning area population is 1,285,808.
In 2006, 20 out of 35 cities and counties in the planning area paid matching funds to the MPO.
"Every dollar of local match allows the MPO to program an additional four dollars of federal funds for transportation planning activities," wrote Mike Dearing, manager of the Indianapolis MPO, in a May 11 letter to members of the Indianapolis Regional Transportation Council.
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