This fall, voters in and around Whiteland will see a question on their ballots, asking to merge the fire protection district that oversees fire services to their community with the town.
The change won’t increase taxes and won’t change the services residents receive when they have an emergency. But it will allow the fire department and the town to better work together with the growth expected in coming years, Whiteland Town Manager Norm Gabehart said.
Last month, the Whiteland Town Council and the Whiteland Fire Protection District approved a joint plan to merge. The Whiteland Fire Department will instead become a town-run department, rather than being under the control of the fire district’s board of trustees, similar to how fire departments in Greenwood and New Whiteland operate.
One of the key reasons for the change is growth, Gabehart said.
New neighborhoods planned in Whiteland would add more than 700 homes to the community of about 4,300 people. Having a town-run fire department will help better coordinate the work needed to manage what is expected to be a sizeable population boom, Gabehart said.
A member of the department can serve on a board that evaluates new development projects, allowing the department to be better informed about where new development is taking place and how that will impact them, and getting their assistance in evaluating new development to make sure public safety aspects, such as locations of fire hydrants or access for emergency vehicles, are set up appropriately.
The fire district covers Whiteland and parts of the surrounding area. The district extends west to Honey Creek Road and east to the area around Interstate 65, and is bordered by Greenwood to the north and Franklin to the south and doesn’t cover New Whiteland, which is served by that town’s own fire department.
Currently, the fire protection district has its own property tax rate and collects about $223,000 per year. The district also receives funds from its distribution of local income taxes and its share of taxes the state collects on vehicles for a total funding of about $350,000 per year, which covers paying the salaries of firefighters, training costs and operating the department’s vehicles and fire station.
If voters say yes to the referendum, the district would be merged with the town. The governing board of the district would be eliminated and the fire department would report to the Whiteland Town Council and town manger. The town would also begin collecting the taxes the fire district currently receives, including property taxes from homes, businesses and farms in Whiteland and the surrounding area, Gabehart said. The money would be set aside specifically for the fire department, Gabehart said.
The fire chief would report directly to the town manager and the department’s budget would need to be approved by the Whiteland Town Council, Gabehart said. The town and the fire district have always worked closely together. The merger simply formalizes that and eliminates another layer of bureaucracy, he said.
While the town doesn’t have any immediate plans to grow the fire department, that could change as the population continues to increase, Gabehart said.
Residents currently served by the fire department won’t notice any difference in services after the merger, Whiteland Fire Chief Eric Funkhouser said.
“They won’t be seeing any changes at all,” he said. “We’ll still have the same amount of people working, and the response times will remain the same.”
A majority of voters in the fire district and town will need to approve the referendum, said Dustin Huddleston, an attorney representing the fire district.
The county is working to get the question on the ballot this fall. The Johnson County Election Board and the state will need to approve the wording of the referendum question, Johnson County Clerk Sue Misiniec said.
Clark Pleasant schools is also requesting a referendum, with voters being asked to approve an additional $1.5 million per year that would go toward school safety.
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This fall, voters in Whiteland and the surrounding area will be asked to vote in a referendum that will alter who is responsible for running the fire department in their community. Here’s the details about the referendum:
The question: Voters will be asked if they want the Whiteland Fire Protection District to be eliminated and for the Town of Whiteland to take over running the Whiteland Fire Department.
Where: The fire district covers Whiteland and parts of the surrounding area. The district extends west to Honey Creek Road and east to the area around Interstate 65, and is bordered by Greenwood to the north and Franklin to the south and doesn’t cover New Whiteland, which is served by that town’s own fire department.
Approval: The referendum will be approved if a majority of voters in both the district and the town vote for it.
When: If approved, the merger would be completed by the beginning of 2020.
Tax impact: The referendum will not result in any changes to the tax rate for residents of either the fire district or town.
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