Darmstadt is not included in the current Evansville-Vanderburgh County merger proposal, but town officials say the effect of consolidation is a major concern for their residents.
The four-member Darmstadt Town Council approved a resolution expressing opposition against the current consolidation proposal last week. The council's grave concern focused on the possibility of additional taxes and fees imposed on its residents by a future consolidated government and proclaimed it would oppose any plan that results in higher taxes.
Under the current plan, the town's governmental structure is not affected. Instead, the proposal creates a special Town Services District for the community of 1,407 people. A countywide General Services tax would also be applied to all Darmstadt residents.
"We're going to be affected exactly the (same) way everyone else that lives in Vanderburgh County outside of the city limits is affect," said town councilman Steve Kahre. "Just because you live in Darmstadt makes no difference whatsoever. Everybody is going to pay that general services tax."
The current consolidation proposal does not lay out the future tax rates. If a consolidation referendum is approved a transition committee is tasked with setting those for the new government, which is then governed the common council.
The resolution also demands that the county commissioners and the Evansville City Council hold a special meeting in Darmstadt before potentially passing a final consolidation plan. Both bodies must approve identical merger proposals before it is placed on the ballot for voter approval.
Kahre said neither body had responded to the town's request yet.
None of the town officials attended the initial joint public hearing on consolidation last month, but some of the residents did.
Eric Gries, 41, and Bruce Ungethiem, one of the organizers of the anti-consolidation group, We the People, both testified against the proposal then and again on Tuesday during a special meeting of the town council at Salem Church.
"The residents don't want Evansville in the county, Gries said, which garnered some applause from the crowd of about 125 people. "We don't want the city in Darmstadt."
That feeling is widespread, Kahre said, who also said future town officials might be forced to consider if remaining an incorporated town is financially feasible if taxes are unfair.
"We've heard a lot of comments (about consolidation)," he said. "I'd be hard-pressed to find one person that's come from Darmstadt that has said, 'I'm for it.'"