Voters in six townships in Howard County will determine whether the size of township government is reduced through consolidation.
A group of township officials worked for the past year to develop a consolidation plan for Howard County.
The recommendation is that Howard, Clay and Ervin townships would consolidate based on the Northwestern school boundaries; Liberty, Jackson and Union townships would merge along the Eastern school boundaries.
If approved by the voters the number of elected officials from 11 trustees and 33 board members to five trustees and 15 board members. There would have been one township board member elected from each township in the new alignment.
Center and Taylor townships will remain standalone based on the school districts. There will be no consolidation in the Western school district because Honey Creek and Monroe townships didn’t participate.
Current township elected officials are divided on the consolidation proposal.
The Kokomo League of Women Voters have scheduled four information meetings on the township consolidation, two in each of the proposed new government entities.
The meetings for Clay, Ervin and Howard townships will take place at 6 p.m. at Northwestern High School on Sept. 20 and Oct. 18.
The Liberty, Jackson and Union township meetings are set at the Greentown Public Library at 6 p.m. Sept. 13 and Oct. 11.
Center Township Trustee Jean Lushin, who headed up the study group, said he will participate in the informational meetings.
He said aside from the recommendations that were made there are no plans to mount a campaign in favor of the consolidations.
If the consolidations are approved by voters it will reduce the number of townships in the county from 11 to seven starting Jan. 1, 2015.
As proposed there will be one trustee for each of the consolidated townships with three board members, one elected from each township.
Last year during a meeting with the Kokomo Tribune, Gov. Mitch Daniels called the Howard County effort an interesting idea and one being talked about elsewhere in the state.
The governor has been a vocal supporter of local government reform and reducing the number of townships in Indiana.
Daniels said he has no problem with the approach of consolidating along the school boundaries.
"If Howard County took the lead and it's seen as a successful step forward, then it would be imitated elsewhere," Daniels said.