Town of Fishers: More Hyperbole

Meanwhile, the Town of Fishers has not been silent on the issue. The Town’s website includes a reprint of Town Manager Gary Huff’s testimony before the Committee and encourages Town residents to call or write their representatives and express their views on the bills.

The statements made my Mr. Huff borders between hilarious and outrageous. Some quotes from his testimony:

“Annexations by the Town of Fishers are intended to provide a unification of the Fishers community. This unification consolidates the unincorporated areas within the town’s corporate boundaries. We refer to the unincorporated holes within the town’s corporate limits as the “Swiss Cheese Effect”.

Annexations currently being considered by the Town of Fishers are not because of poor financial or development mismanagement. As a matter of fact, all one has to do is look at the town’s latest bond ratings by the National Bond Rating companies to see that we are one of the best fiscally managed municipalities in the nation.

Fishers’ citizens now subsidize those unincorporated areas within the corporate boundaries including infrastructure such as roads, parks, recreation facilities, fire stations and major equipment. And, town services such as police, snow plowing, and recreation programs.”

Anyone who is mildly familiar with the situation knows that the Geist Area (and the two new areas Fishers wants to annex) is not within the corporate boundaries, but outside of the Town. Not to mention the fact that the Geist area was here and well established long before Fishers became something more than a bar and a McDonalds.

It’s true, however, that there are numerous “holes” within the Town’s boundaries—those holes represent territory that the Town Council chose not to annex because the territory didn’t represent a high enough tax base (i.e., more money to the Town) and/or would require significant infrastructure improvements (e.g., roads, sewers) that the Town didn’t want to pay for. And, can you believe that the Town continues to use and promote the term “Swiss Cheese?” It would be difficult to use that term with a straight face when testifying before a Senate Committee, don’t you think?

It’s also true, most likely, that the Town does provide services to those areas within the Town boundaries that the Town Council chose not to annex. If one’s house is completely surrounded by the Town, what could one do? However, the Geist Area (and the two new areas Fisher’s is trying to annex), because we are not within the Town boundaries, does not receive services from the Town.

This is a point we made with the Senate Committee. The law says that the court must rule that an annexation not take place if the annexing municipality does not and has not provided certain services to the area to be annexed: police and fire (we get these services from the Hamilton County Sheriff and Fall Creek Township); roads and streets (we get these from Hamilton County); and, water and sewer (we get these from the Indianapolis Water Company and Hamilton Southeastern Utilities).

One might argue, though, that the property owners of Fall Creek Township and Hamilton County are subsidizing the president of the Fishers Town Council. After all, his lot is the only lot in his subdivision that has been annexed by the Town (how else could he remain on the Council?); no doubt, he receives the benefits of fire and police protection and roads and street maintenance from the County and Township. His lot is the Swiss Cheese hole of the Geist Area—maybe we should annex that lot back into the Township.

Obviously, according to Mr. Huff’s testimony, the Town doesn’t really need our money, so why do they want to abuse the law and take it?

Clearly, what raised the concerns of the Senators on the Committee were how extremely difficult and expensive it is to remonstrate against a forced annexation, that there are no other checks-and-balances over a municipality’s annexations other than the property owners’ right to remonstrate, and the reported abuses of the annexation law by cities and towns.

Again, please share your concerns with our elected state representatives. We have learned that they do listen, especially when the collective voice is loud.