From a lengthy article in the Evansville Courier & Press:
In the small businesses and homes nestled in the scenic countryside of this small German heritage community just north of Evansville, suspicious minds have throttled debate about local government consolidation.
It is hard to find anyone who thinks more than 10 percent of voters in the town of roughly 1,400 will say yes to a November election day referendum on consolidating Evansville and Vanderburgh County governments.
Nourished by the same culture of self-determination and independence that spurred the move to become Vanderburgh County's only incorporated town four decades ago — and seasoned with "facts" supplied by consolidation opponents — certain notions about government merger have taken a firm hold here. Darmstadt, an otherwise sleepy town of just more than 500 homes, is a stone wall of opposition to consolidation.
"Basically, it's a hostile takeover. The city can't balance their books, and they're coming out to the county people and getting in their pockets, is what it amounts to," declared Steve Kahre, a lifelong Darmstadt resident and one of four Town Council members.
Ron Korff, whose Village Square Barber Shop is a nerve center of opposition to consolidation, said he doesn't mind paying taxes for what he owes — "but not more taxes for no more services."
Among the numerous signs and hats that dot the walls of Korff's popular shop is an anti-consolidation poster and tear-off order forms for anti-consolidation T-shirts.
Asked where he got his facts about consolidation, Korff said, "Just in talking to some of the people who have been studying it." He named Bruce Ungethiem, a Darmstadt resident and a leader of Citizens Opposed to Reorganization in Evansville.
The Town Council voted more than two years ago to remain an independent, incorporated town by not participating in a consolidated government.
But that is not nearly enough to quell the skepticism and cynicism about city officials' motives that runs rampant here. To begin with, Darmstadt residents would continue to pay countywide taxes and would be subject to some of a consolidated government's ordinances.
"We're not excluded in the least," Kahre said, virtually spitting out the words. "We're excluded to the fact that we're not consolidating our street and road department or our sewer department or any of our services with the county or the city. We're not combining any of them because we wanted to be our own little community.
"But the problem is that the folks in the Town of Darmstadt are still going to pay the increased county taxes."
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See the full article here:
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/jul/21/fear-of-consolidation/
