Center Grove residents trying to determine which way to go

By Jason Michael White, Daily Journal of Johnson County

The issue started with streets.

Center Grove area roads were crumbling, and not enough was being done by the county to fix them.

Not that the county was at fault. County government was not designed to support a township with a population large enough to be the second biggest city in Johnson County.

So a group of concerned residents started asking themselves how they could get better street maintenance than what they were getting from the county.

Their conversations spread to cover a broader range of services, from parks to police. Community members wanted to know how they could get the best services for their property tax money.

They looked to their neighbors, Greenwood and Bargersville.

Then they started asking themselves whether merging with the town or the city was the answer. They've spent about two years trying to find out.

The community group White River Citizens United has been at the forefront of debate about whether unincorporated portions of the Center Grove area should merge with Greenwood or Bargersville, split between the two, become a separate city or stay the way it is now.

The group supports no option. Instead, group members are trying to get information to the public and government officials, so they can decide what they want for the future of the Center Grove area.

Group members will make a presentation about merger options during a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Center Grove High School auditorium, 2717 S. Morgantown Road.

"We're trying to lay out the information for everyone so they can make an educated decision," said Anita Knowles, a group member and Johnson County Council member.

Indiana University professor Paul Friga and his graduate students studied the impact of annexing or incorporating the Center Grove area into a city or town. Through the study, Friga predicted that if Greenwood and Bargersville continued to annex into White River Township along major corridors, such as State Road 135 and County Road 144, it would leave out large chunks of land in the Center Grove area.

Property values would drop. Roads would continue to fall apart. And no leadership would exist to plan for the future of the township and its residents, he has said.

Annexation is decided by a city or town, although property owners in an annexation area in some cases have the right to petition to block it.

A merger has the same end result but works differently and gives the public final say.

The township advisory board and Bargersville Town Council or Greenwood City Council each would have to approve a resolution to form a study committee. The study committee would examine the possibility of a merger and make a recommendation to the township and city or town.

The advisory board and council would vote on the merger. If approved, the merger would go on a ballot for public vote.

White River Citizens United sees the public vote as a chance for the community as a whole to decide its own fate, group member John Griffin said.

"This is a big elephant to chew on," he said.

The group has spoken with other communities in central Indiana, such as Carmel, state tax officials and other experts to try and get as much information as possible to the community and local government leaders.

Group members have spoken with Bargersville officials. And they have met publicly with the township trustee and advisory board.

A question that remains is the exact property tax impact for Center Grove area residents if the township incorporates or merges with Greenwood or Bargersville. Township residents would have to pay a town or city tax they have not had to pay before.

With those new property taxes would come town or city services, such as street maintenance, snow removal and police protection, which currently are provided by the county government.

Township residents need to know if their services would improve if they paid additional property taxes, Knowles said.

For example, township roads are under the responsibility of the county highway department, which has a budget about $7.5 million short of what is needed for adequate street maintenance, according to the Friga study. This shortage is because of a lack of funds.

But Center Grove area residents would need to know if the new taxes would mean better streets, group members said.