Buckingham tapped to develop mixed-use project near IUPUI
Former YMCA branch at 860 W. 10th St. would be razed to make way for retail and housing.
Township Government
Articles
Trustee chooses $20.5 million Buckingham plan for old YMCA
The Center Township Advisory Board has picked Buckingham Cos. to redevelop a 2-acre property it owns
at 860 W. 10th St. near the IUPUI campus.
Area voters to decide on Greenwood merger
Greenwood and White River Township officials advance a plan that would create Indiana’s sixth-largest city, if residents
approve it May 4.
FEIGENBAUM: Expect uncertainty in the 2010 General Assembly
About the only certainty for the upcoming legislative session is that it will be over in March.
Lawrence Township exploring fire department merger
A Lawrence Township trustee is proposing to merge the township’s fire department with the Indianapolis Fire Department,
in an attempt to further reduce its operating deficit.
Bargersville wins annexation dispute with Greenwood
The Town of Bargersville won a legal dispute Monday that will allow it to annex 739 parcels within three miles of Greenwood’s
city limits and become the exclusive sewer-service provider in the area.
Greenwood merger would create one of state’s largest cities
The new city would count more than 80,000 residents. In terms of population, it would zoom past Fishers and Carmel to rank
sixth or seventh in the state.
Things aren’t as bad as we think
Difficult economic conditions have been faced before and we have both the tools and will to overcome our problems.
Township officials offer valuable service
Township officials provide many services for the community, molded by back-yard input, which enhances quality of life.
Township offices have to go
Leaders on both sides of the aisle have called for streamlining township government, and it’s time to demand that our legislators
make those changes.
Township jobs offer benefits, money for little work
Just like Willie Sutton, who liked to rob banks because that’s where the money was, I’m going to get myself a job in township government because, "There is gold in them thar hills."
Unigov 2.0 isn’t just about savings
Saving money may be the bottom-line reason for reforming local government, but that’s only one of the benefits.
Center Township’s Drummer stepping down
Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer intends to resign from his post to take a lobbying job with Ice Miller LLP, according to a WISH-TV Channel 8 report.
Government reform effort long overdue
Critics were lined up to oppose Gov. Mitch Daniels’ plan to streamline
local government almost before he left the podium Dec. 19. Big surprise.
Residents to decide fate of township assessors
In this election, citizens must decide whether the assessing duties of the elected township assessor in the township should
be transferred to the county assessor.
Assessor consolidation is a must
We have a long-standing policy of not endorsing political candidates, but there’s no such policy where ballot initiatives
are concerned. So we urge our readers to vote "yes" on assessor consolidation.
Trustee inches toward redeveloping property portfolio
Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer and his predecessors have stockpiled more than money over the years. The trustee’s office
also holds a portfolio of mostly undeveloped properties worth at least $10 million. Several key parcels have been on the trustee’s
books-and off the tax rolls-for decades. Drummer has made some progress in finding uses for the properties since an IBJ special
report first questioned his holdings in November 2006. But it would have to be measured in inches. The most…
SPECIAL REPORT: Center Township trustee taps taxpayers for millions
At an aging building at 863 Massachusetts Ave., they pass through a metal detector and wait in line to show a clerk their
identification and copies of overdue bills. Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer sometimes helps. The Trustee’s Office received
an average of $6.9 million each of the last seven years, mostly from taxes, to provide poor relief-now known as township assistance.
But only about $2 million reached the penniless each year, with much of the difference covering administrative overhead….
Ex-member: Township board ‘bored by the budget’
Although he collects an average $6.9 million each year for poor relief, mostly from taxes, Center Township Trustee Carl Drummer
is rarely asked to explain his finances. Drummer’s budget is filed-unread-each year in the Indianapolis City Controller’s
office. The 66-employee Indiana Department of Local Government Finance reviews it, along with budgets from every other taxing
entity in the state. Year-end reports go to the State Board of Accounts, a 282-worker agency that conducts 2,700 to 3,000
audits of Indiana counties,…
Critics question trustee’s property portfolio given mission to help needy
Center Township has real estate holdings worth more than $10 million, according to IBJ research. The township’s robust real estate portfolio—highly unusual for an Indiana township—fits Trustee Carl L. Drummer's vision for his taxpayer-supported office. But it makes others see red.