Members of the Hensley and Nineveh township boards, along with their respective trustees, discuss a proposed merger during a joint meeting Thursday in Trafalgar. Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
AT A GLANCE
Hensley and Nineveh townships
Here’s a look at each township, including their boards, trustees and population:
Hensley Township
Population: 3,771 as of 2020 Census. Estimated at 3,996 in 2024.
Major communities: Trafalgar, portion of Morgantown
Township Trustee: Beth Baird
Township Board: Dennis Brownfield, Bill Meredith and Mary Wilkerson
Nineveh Township
Population: 4,185 as of 2020 Census. Estimated at 4,224 in 2024.
Major community: Prince’s Lakes
Township Trustee: Jonetta Knight
Township Board: Nicole Ford, Jill Jackson and Kevin Jackson
Officials from two southern Johnson County townships weighed the pros and cons of a potential merger during a joint meeting Thursday.
The boards of Hensley and Nineveh townships, along with their respective trustees, held a joint meeting Thursday evening at Morning Star Church in Trafalgar. They discussed a potential of merging the two townships, a move that would save money and make the townships the second in both Johnson County and the state to merge.
Of the five board members present from both townships, they voted 4-0 to move the proposal forward. Hensley Township board member Bill Meredith abstained, saying he was only doing so at this time. Nineveh Township board member Nicole Ford was absent.
Now, the boards will meet individually to discuss the proposed merger. A detailed fiscal analysis will need to be created, and an attorney will need to be hired to draft a merger resolution. This resolution will be discussed by both boards, followed by two public hearings on the merger before final action can be taken.
How the townships got here
The idea to merge these townships came after Franklin, Union and Needham townships decided to merge in April 2021, with the merger taking effect Jan. 1, 2022. The three townships are governed by one trustee and one board member from each township’s geographic area. Tax dollars paid by residents of all three townships fund services that are administered from Franklin.
Township mergers were first suggested by the Kernan-Shepard report commissioned during the Gov. Mitch Daniels administration. Though Indiana townships have been able to merge after a state law allowing mergers passed in 2008, none had attempted it until 2021 — when Franklin, Union and Needham townships did. No other group of townships has merged since then.
Each year, bills to forcibly merge townships are brought to the Indiana Statehouse, including House Bill 1233 this past session that would have dissolved all townships and shifted township duties to one trustee in charge of each Indiana county. The bill, which ultimately did not pass, would have exempted Marion County.
Seeing that the idea to merge townships is not going away, Nineveh Township Trustee Jonetta Knight and Hensley Township Trustee Beth Baird are looking at merging with their boards. They initially had wanted to merge the three southern Johnson County townships, but Blue River Township leaders were not interested in merging at this time, Knight previously told the Daily Journal.
Blue River Township’s decision came up at several points during Thursday’s joint meeting between Hensley and Nineveh townships. When reached by the Daily Journal, Blue River Township Trustee Ray Walton initially said he wanted to discuss with his board before answering any questions about why Blue River Township didn’t want to take part, as he couldn’t remember exactly what the board had previously discussed. If Hensley and Nineveh’s township boards felt it was good for their communities, he had no problem with it, but it is up to them, he said.
Growing push for mergers
As part of the discussions at Thursday’s meeting, Hensley and Nineveh township board members heard from Franklin Union Needham Township Trustee Lydia Wales.
Since the merger that created Franklin Union Needham township, Wales has become an expert on township mergers. This year, she’s traveled to at least eight counties to discuss the merger process. Earlier this week, she was even asked to go to the governor’s office to discuss how the FUN township merger took place and how it took place with little push-back, she said.
Wales’ takeaway from the meeting with Gov. Mike Braun’s office was that the state wants townships to merge. There are currently 1,002 townships in the state — about half of the layers of government in Indiana — and state officials want a smaller number of townships that are also geographically larger than they are now, she said.
She gave an example of how LaPorte County has 21 townships, with at least three townships in that county having populations of less than 1,000, U.S. Census data shows.
Fewer townships will make it easier for the State Board of Accounts to track township finances. If the number of townships was cut in half, the SBOA would have its workload cut significantly, allowing state workers to catch issues sooner, she said.
Wales brought up the situation that was recently revealed in Bartholomew County, where former Columbus Township Trustee Ben Jackson amassed $1.12 million in personal charges on a township credit card over an eight-year period. The expenses allegedly included $657,831 for dozens of personal trips across 10 countries, $150,078 in retail purchases, $90,915 in tuition and school expenses for his children, $39,913 for personal utilities, among other things, The (Columbus) Republic, a sister newspaper of the Daily Journal, reported May 28.
There have also been instances of fraud with township trustees in northern Indiana, Wales said. Townships in Jay and Lake counties have had trustees sentenced in recent years in Federal criminal cases.
All of these incidents have brought a renewed focus on township mergers. Amid the growing movement, the Indiana Township Association has begun to advise counties to merge townships on their own terms to avoid being forced into it by the state, Wales said.
Amy Norcross, a clerk in Knight’s office, is glad the two townships are having the discussion. She was at a training two years ago where township mergers were discussed.
“We knew it was coming. We weren’t shocked,” Norcross said.
What a merger could look like
Financially, merging Hensley and Nineveh Townships could save $15,000 in the first year, said Baird, who compiled a preliminary financial report on the proposed merger. But these savings could change as costs go up or other costs appear, she said.
Several redundancies would be reduced. There would be one website and one SBOA audit, for example. Costs that would be reduced include advertising, software, bookkeeping services, utilities, insurance and rent, Baird said. If merged, the combined township would be responsible for four cemeteries.
There would only be one trustee elected by voters in both townships, and the trustee could live in either township. The combined board would have three members — one from Nineveh Township, one from Hensley Township and one at-large member elected by voters in both townships.
Timeline-wise, adopting the merger resolution should take place this year if the townships would like the new board and trustee to be selected in the 2026 election, Wales said.
Whenever the resolution is signed, it would go into effect the next Jan. 1. If signed this year, it would be in effect starting Jan. 1, 2026.
Each board would also need to decide amongst themselves which members would remain under a combined board for the first year, since the election wouldn’t take place until that fall. The same goes for the trustees.
Comments from members
Member of both boards asked questions and made comments about the proposed merger.
Mary Wilkerson, a Hensley Township board member, asked if the main trustee’s office were to be in Nineveh Township, would there still be access in Hensley Township. The answer is yes, Knight said. However, no decisions have been made on where the main office would be yet.
In Hensley Township, Baird said she usually meets with people in a study room at the Trafalgar library. In Nineveh Township, Norcoss said their office often makes a lot of house calls, particularly for those who would have trouble driving.
“We’re here to meet their needs, not [just do] what works for us,” Norcross said.
Wales was asked if there were any negatives to merging. She first talked about how landlords from Needham Township thanked her because people got better service and had an easier time locating their trustee after the merger.
Additionally, FUN Township took over cemeteries that were neglected and in need of care. They’ve put about $90,000 into the four cemeteries her office inherited from Needham Township, but she said they are “not even close” to par. Her office also discovered that the Smiley Mills Cemetery had 400 to 500 plots still available that hadn’t been sold since 1955. They are planning to sell more plots later this year, she said.
Wales said that another positive was the potential savings; however, FUN Township also saw an increase in township assistance requests after the merger. However, she said Nineveh and Hensley townships have done a good job at keeping up with residents’ needs, whereas Needham had not.
Meredith said he likes small government, but knows it’s going to go to the wayside with the state’s push toward mergers. It’s just a matter of how long it takes for it to happen, he said.
But he has a concern with the long-term effects, he said.
“I think with the staff and the boards that are in place right now, we all care, Meredith said.” [But,] down the road, is it just going to become a job for somebody — when it gets so big that they delegate and everything.”
Wales noted the Statehouse discussion of having one trustee per county, which she disagreed with. She said it would “take the personality away,” and make it difficult for her to have relationships with landlords at the same level she does now, as an example. She expects townships to remain, just with more mergers.
Other concerns, questions
Board members expressed concern about the make-up of the board, saying that two township-specific and one at-large member could open up the possibility of one township having more say than the other. Wales said that if they had three townships, it would be more equal.
Hensley and Nineveh townships can merge without Blue River Township, but hope the township comes on board in the future, Knight said.
Dian Ankney, a former Nineveh township board member and one of only two members of the public in attendance Thursday, was asked if she had any thoughts. She said not really, as it was going to happen one way or another.
“As long as everything’s fair and equitable and both sides get represented, I think that’s all anybody cares about,” Ankney said.
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