To the Tax Payers of Madison Township:

[Kelly Alcala]

To the Tax Payers of Madison Township,

I would like to take the opportunity to explain an error that occurred in the meeting that was held on Monday, July 27th at 9:00am. Information was submitted to the Mooresville Times in which there was a typographical error. The Notice of Hearing stated the proposed tax rate for the Cumulative Building and Equipment Fund was $0.33 per $100 of assessed value of property. The ad SHOULD have stated the proposed rate was $0.0333 per $100 of assessed value of property. As a board member, I apologize for this mistake and any confusion it has caused.

After further research I found the Indiana law states:

Tax levy; deposit of money
Sec. 4. (a) To provide for the cumulative building and equipment fund established under this chapter, the legislative body may levy a tax on all taxable property within the taxing district in compliance with IC 6-1.1-41. The tax rate may not exceed three and thirty-three hundredths cents ($0.0333) on each one hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valuation of property in the taxing district.


It is important to note that regardless of the typographical error in the public notice, had the Township Board adopted the resolution approving the maximum rate be levied for purposes of the cumulative building and equipment fund, the Department of Local Government and Finance would have allowed only the maximum rate as stated in I.C. 36-8-14, that being $0.0333 per $100 of assessed value.

As a board member I am looking for ways to make sure that we are providing good fire and paramedic service for the lowest cost possible. I agree with the tax payers that were there at this meeting that at this point in our economy we cannot afford for our property taxes to be going up by large amounts. I will continue to work with the township clerk and township accountant to make sure we have correct information available at Township meetings going forward. Feel free to contact me with any concerns at: [e-mail] or 317-501-3548.

Thank you,

Kelly Alcala

[Kelly Alcala]

Here is a response that I received from one of the county commissioners of Morgan County.

The township was not the stumbling block for the YMCA. The Madison Twp. trustee at the time, Rodger Birchfield, was very supportive and was even involved in some of the planning.

The YMCA organization itself has been very slow-footed in doing the fundraising campaign needed to build a YMCA up here. The total project was going to take several million dollars - I think around $7 or 8 million) - and the YMCA needs to raise that. The land was never perceived to be a problem, either from the township or the part of it we would have needed to get from the school district.

As with so many things, it's all about the money, sadly.



Hopefully this answers the questions regarding the YMCA.
Thanks!

[Tyler Pantell]

thanks for all the info Joe, it seems alot of hoa and township taxes overlap. Is that true? For instance doesn't our taxes goto snow removal in the winter? I am told our roads in our neighborhood our the responsibilty of the township, but our hoa dues goto snow removal and when the snow removal company removes the snow they seem to damage property every year. So is that the reason it doesn't get fixed? Liability issues?

I noticed you put fire first, I am told that is the largest part of our township at the moment. However at the miscellaneous duties you said zoning and planning, would that not be roads?
Are ymcas community centers?

One more question for you, if there is a vote for passing a new building for our fire department or a new raise for the employees. Would a person on the board beable to vote for that if they our related to or married to anyone on the fire department. Is that not a conflict of interest? Or it is and the person can not vote for that issue? thanks

[Joe Lucas]

This might help:

By far the largest single group of elected officials in Indiana, Township Trustees govern 1,008 townships covering every part of the state. Like most elected officials, the Township Trustee serves a four year term. Many Township Trustees work at other jobs in addition to serving their constituents.

Assisting the Township Trustee in managing this very localized form of government is a three member Township Board. Among its duties are the adoption of the annual budget, serving as a board of finance, and approving township contracts.

Indiana law requires that the Township Trustees provide essential services to the residents and businesses of the Township. Because of its "grassroots" structure, the Township Trustee system is designed specifically to quickly meet the needs of the individual in an emergency.

Fire Protection
Township Trustees are, by Indiana law, charged with the responsibility of providing fire protection and ambulance service for the areas of the township not incorporated into a city or town. The protection can be provided by contracting with various fire departments, operating a Township Fire Department, or a combination of both. (Indiana Code 36-8)

Poor Relief
Overseeing the poor and distributing poor relief is a primary duty in many townships. The trustee is charged to care for the poor by the most economical means available and at the same time is charged to be sure that the necessary needs of an individual or family are met. The applicant must show that they are unable to provide those needs through personal effort and that they have exhausted all other means.

Many trustees creatively cooperate with other agencies and churches in their areas, keeping costs controlled and delivering services needed. The advantage the Trustee's systems has over other forms of welfare is the freedom to discern whether or not an individual has and is willing to put forth that personal effort to help themselves. (Indiana Code Title 12)

Burials
Burial assistance is available from the Township Trustee when no other means of payment are available. The trustee, according to Indiana Code Title 12, is to oversee the burial of the indigent.

Assessing
In townships with a population under 10,000 the trustee is also the township assessor and is responsible for assessing the real and personal property within their township. Since Center Township in Delaware County has a population over 10,000 there is a separate township assessor.

Personal property is assessed yearly and consists of mobile homes and tangible personal property of an individual, business, or farm. Real property is assessed during a reassessment period with new buildings being added yearly.

Financials
Each August, the trustee prepares and submits a budget for the incoming year to the three-person township board for approval. As the Chief Financial Officer of the township, the trustee pays and records all claims for the township expenses and salaries and is responsible to keep accurate records and follow all the financial guidelines set out in Indiana Code.

In January of each year, the trustee presents to the board an annual report which shows all receipts, expenditures, investments and debts. The approved report is then published in local papers for public inspection.

Cemetery Maintenance
According to Indiana Code 23-14 the trustee is to provide and maintain cemeteries located in the township. This includes those cemeteries which have been abandoned.

Weed Control
Indiana Code 15-3-4 charges the trustee with destroying detrimental weeds within their township. Guidelines for notification to the property owner are set within the law.

Fence Disputes
When a dispute arises between two land owners regarding placement and maintenance of line fences, the trustee is to make determination according to Indiana law 32-10-9.

Livestock Claims
If livestock is killed or damaged by unknown dog(s), the owner of the livestock may file a report with the trustee who investigates the claim. If valid, the trustee reimburses the owner for the loss from the dog fund which receives moneys from the dog tags sold each year by the Trustee and Assessor within the township.

Miscellaneous Duties
There are other areas of responsibility for trustees that are not widespread. Those include:

Parks and Recreation
Zoning & Planning
Small Claims Court
Emergency Medical Service
Schools
Community Centers
Shelters
Libraries

[Jeremy]

Ok but why do we have to upkeep cemeteries?

[Kelly Alcala]

Jeremy - No your questions are not too hard to answer, but please remember that I also have a job and a family to take care of and I am not on this website on a daily or even weekly basis at some points. I do have other things to do as well.

Here at home (where I access this website) I do not have with me currently the most updated accounting files for the township. If you would like to see how much is spent on Poor Relief feel free to go into the township office and request that information as it is a public record. The same would go with Cemetery upkeep. It is the law that the Cemetery's are kept up and that is part of the Township Trustees duties to see that that is done.

The Paramedics are employees of the township. I have sent an email to the County Commissioner asking for information on the YMCA issue and as of yet, I have heard nothing back. When I do I will try to post on here giving you your answer.

[Jeremy]

Hmm its been 5 days now.. were my questions that hard to answer for a board member? Maybe I should go to the meetings and start asking these questions.

[Jeremy]

So ok.

Tyler is voting for me, I get a whopping $1500 a year and get to listen to people complain about ?? at 9am on Monday mornings. Sounds like fun, fun, fun.

Kelly,

What is poor relief and how much do we spend on that? Cemetery upkeep? How much does that cost and why are we up keeping one in the first place? Do we pay the paramedics as employees or contractors? 9am on Monday morning may get a larger turn out but I doubt its a real accurate cross section of the population. Most retired folks have the extra time, but the majority of heartland crossing are of working age and would like to have a say in their neighborhood without having to take a day off.

Please do find out about the YMCA because I know the community would love to have one and from what I heard if they could get the land they are still interested. If you could follow up on that I know it would mean a lot.

Thanks for being here and answering all my questions I appreciate it.

[Kelly Alcala]

Tyler - My job being a board member is to over see the spending of the tax money that goes for the Madison Township. The Fire Department is the largest part of that, as well as things in Madison Township like, Poor Relief, cemetery upkeep, and the administration funds for the township. Paramedics are on staff at the Madison Township Fire Department. Madison Township does not have their own police, if you live in Madison Township, you would rely on Morgan County Sheriffs Department or State Police. As far as benefits of being a board member, there is our pay of $1500 a year and the satisfaction of serving our community and trying to help in this way. So, no we do not get any other 'benefits' of being on the board.

[Tyler Pantell]

thanks for the info, sorry to hear you are sick all of us in my house got it too, however I am a little confused. So all you do for the communitiy is?? It can't only be the fire dept. what about police and para medics? You do get benefits being on the board right? So are there three board members per township then? 14 townships right. You guys never communicate with the rest of the morgan county government? Funny thing around here is who ever you talk to its the wrong person someone else takes care of it. Even in the hoa of the neighborhood. the ymca probly needed land grants to build.

as far as voting for you Jeremy to me its not what people get, I am more complexed in the fact that most people in any form of government refer to the people as citizens and people, the word citizen makes everyone faceless. The other main thing in my view is if people who ran for any sort of office would act like a leader and not a person who throws there authority around. So basically if people would go back and be more Godly or Christian like again. That is a bad word these days unfortuanatly.

Even in some churches its the same, We were going to one and the people had obama stickers and obama wants abortion. So everything down to the hoa government is screwed up.

Jeremy you should try to go into politics you seem very level headed, heck I guess I would vote for you. If the ymca doesn't get built then you would loose my next vote though. its only politics though so don't take it personally.

[Kelly Alcala]

I am sorry that I have not answered your questions as quickly as you would have liked, but I have been very ill this week. I am just now feeling better and have been very busy catching up with work and have not had time to get on this website. I will attempt to answer all your questions.

Tyler- Our fire department is a paid full time department, however right now that means they are only paid hourly. They do not get vacation or sick time at all. Last year the board approved and passed for the department to go to a Career Department for 15 employees. This will not be the whole department but it is a start and hopefully will be implemented starting October 1st of this year.

Tyler - The Madison Township Board has nothing to do with building roads, those requests would need to be routed thru the county or the state. We also do not help with getting businesses into the area, again that would be the county.

Jeremy – Concerning the YMCA, it is my understanding that at one point there were talks of a YMCA going in but it fell thru because some grants did not go thru. I do not believe it had anything to do with the township, but I will be happy to find out. I was not on the board at that time, so I am sorry I do not recall the complete situation.

Now concerning the meetings, we do our best to accommodate everyone in the community. We do typically have budget hearings in the evening in the fall to discuss the next year’s budget. Please know that we do hear complaints from all people no matter when we hold the meetings. People that work 2nd shift don’t like the evening meetings. Citizens with younger children complain when hold them in the evening because then they can’t make them. However just so you know, we usually get our best turn out of people when we hold the meetings in the morning. Also, I do understand your frustration with finding out information about your community. However the local paper has been a primary source of community information for years for most people. As I have stated previously in this forum, I will be posting meeting notices on here for everyone to see. Yes….I have heard of Facebook, thank you.

Jeremy- Board members get paid $1500 a year to serve their community. You can get the current 2009 budget by going into the Township Office and requesting it from the township clerk. The office is located at 7047 E Landersdale Rd. The proposed 2010 budget has not yet been completed but once it is done it will be available as well.