City, township officials can't reach conclusion on fire protection

Bluffton city officials and Harrison Township officials have reached a "Catch 22," said Bluffton councilwoman Bette Erxleben, in their discussions concerning how to provide fire protection to townships.

The two entities could create a fire protection territory, but rural residents are concerned that territories would take away taxing power from the trustees, says Harrison Township Trustee Tom Longenberger.

According to Indiana code, fire territories give the following governmental entities the following powers (In this case, the participating units would be Harrison Township and the city of Bluffton, and the providing unit would be the city of Bluffton.).

To learn more about local discussion, see the Thursday, Feb. 23, News-Banner. To see the complete code, click here.

IC 36-8-19-8
Tthe designated provider unit must establish a fire protection territory fund from which all expenses of operating and maintaining the fire protection services within the territory, including repairs, fees, salaries, depreciation on all depreciable assets, rents, supplies, contingencies, and all other expenses lawfully incurred within the territory shall be paid. The purposes described in this subsection are the sole purposes of the fund, and money in the fund may not be used for any other expenses. Except as allowed in subsections (d) and (e) and section 8.5 of this chapter, the provider unit is not authorized to transfer money out of the fund at any time.
(b) The fund consists of the following:
(1) All receipts from the tax imposed under this section.
(2) Any money transferred to the fund by the provider unit as authorized under subsection (d).
(3) Any receipts from a false alarm fee or service charge imposed by the participating units under IC 36-8-13-4.
(4) Any money transferred to the fund by a participating unit under section 8.6 of this chapter.
(c) The provider unit, with the assistance of each of the other participating units, shall annually budget the necessary money to meet the expenses of operation and maintenance of the fire protection services within the territory, plus a reasonable operating balance, not to exceed twenty percent (20%) of the budgeted expenses. Except as provided in IC 6-1.1-18.5-10.5, after estimating expenses and receipts of money, the provider unit shall establish the tax levy required to fund the estimated budget. The amount budgeted under this subsection shall be considered a part of each of the participating unit's budget.
(d) If the amount levied in a particular year is insufficient to cover the costs incurred in providing fire protection services within the territory, the provider unit may transfer from available sources to the fire protection territory fund the money needed to cover those costs. In this case:
(1) the levy in the following year shall be increased by the amount required to be transferred; and
(2) the provider unit is entitled to transfer the amount described in subdivision (1) from the fund as reimbursement to the provider unit.
(e) If the amount levied in a particular year exceeds the amount necessary to cover the costs incurred in providing fire protection services within the territory, the levy in the following year shall be