Indianapolis mayor says city-county consolidation needed

INDIANAPOLIS -- Marion County's police and fire departments would merge and many of its township offices would close under a major overhaul of public services proposed by Mayor Bart Peterson on Monday.\nThe reforms would save at least $35 million a year and were needed to avoid large tax increases or layoffs of city workers, Peterson said.\nThe state-approved Uni-Gov system that merged many of Indianapolis' and Marion County's government services in 1970 still left more than 40 separate taxing units and more than 170 elected officials, he said.\nConsolidating more than a dozen police departments in the county and more than a dozen fire departments would be part of an effort to make local government smaller and more efficient, he said.\n"What we need is a Uni-Gov for this generation," Peterson, a second-term Democrat, told supporters at the Indiana History Center.\nMuch of the proposal would need the state Legislature's approval.\nThe plan would consolidate the Indianapolis Police Department, with 1,230 officers, and the 400-officer Marion County Sheriff's Department under the county sheriff.\nThe police consolidation would save $9.7 million, and suburban residents would receive more service for their money, city officials said.\nPublic safety is local government's largest expense, with $117.5 million spent on IPD operations in 2004 and $90 million spent for the Sheriff's Department, which includes jail costs.\nRepublican City-County Councilman Scott Schneider, who represents a suburban district, said he saw no advantages in Peterson's plan for those now living in the Sheriff's Department territory.\n"What it really represents is this: There will be no benefit to the taxpayers of my district other than higher taxes," Schneider said. "There's really going to be a lot of fight against this."\nThe mayor's plan would combine eight township fire departments, the Indianapolis Fire Department and Indianapolis International Airport's fire department into a single countywide department. Smaller departments in Beech Grove, Lawrence and Speedway would be permitted to join that agency.\nPeterson also proposed a reform of the county's system of township trustees, whose offices distribute emergency poor relief and oversee fire protection and other matters. It would combine those nine trustees down to two -- one covering the area within the old city limits and one covering the outlying areas.\nPeterson said it was inefficient to have so many separate offices involved. Another step in the plan would abolish township assessors and have that work transferred to the county assessor's office.\n"We have benefited beyond measure from the vision of those who brought us Uni-Gov," Peterson said. "We owe it to the next generation to be equally focused on the quality of the city they will call home"