From the Evansville Courier & Press:
…
Consolidation is a referendum question on
Vanderburgh County's November general election ballot.
If it passes, it will take effect in 2015.
The County Commissioners would be eliminated, and the City Council and County
Council would be replaced by a 15-member Common Council.
Some city and county offices would be
combined or eliminated, but the Evansville Police Department and the
Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office would not merge.
City and county residents at the meeting
asked about annexation, sewer rates and farmers.
"Are they concerned that their taxes
would go up," said Cathy Edrington.
Williams responded: "I would venture to
guess that that's a universal concern."
He later added: "We know what the caps
are. We know what we're paying today. I think we can expect that some are going
to shift down a little bit and some are going to shift up a little bit as we
equalize, over time, the taxation of everybody in a single community ..."
Some asked why we need to consolidate.
Williams acknowledged that some agencies,
such as the Evansville Vanderburgh County Central Dispatch, are consolidated.
But he said consolidating city and county
ruling bodies is one of the few things left.
Williams said he believes doing so will —
among other things — give residents outside of city limits more representation,
centralize elected officials' accountability and spur economic growth.
…
An earlier post on this issue can be found here:
