Township trustees discuss role in community, mission to serve the "most vulnerable"

Mar. 13—SOUTHERN INDIANA — New Albany Township Trustee David Brewer said his office is there to "serve the community's most vulnerable."

"We're dealing with people who ended up in financial crisis or some type of personal crisis," he said. "A lot of times it deals with issues of possibly facing homelessness. Things happen where they can't afford their rent anymore, their house payment. A lot of times too, it's unfortunate, because it's usually a tragedy, or it's not what people think it is."

Township trustees in Southern Indiana say the local government entities play a vital role in providing relief to community members in need, including services that many people may not realize. Townships offer services ranging from rental assistance to cemetery maintenance.

Brewer said township trustees have often been "taken for granted" by lawmakers, but he feels the "closest form of government to the people is a township trustee."

"There is no one that is more intimate with our voters out there or our citizens because we're actually sitting down face-to-face and dealing with people on a regular basis," Brewer said. "And unfortunately for them, it's usually because they're in some sort of financial crisis or the family's broken because they've just lost a loved one. We deal with many, many people who just don't have the money to bury a loved one or cremate them, and we help provide that."

The future of townships in Indiana has been the subject of debate for many years. A recent study from the Indiana Township Association and Indiana University Public Policy Institute looked into the viability of the this form of local government, including township trustee's offices.

The Indiana Township Association issued recommendations for tweaking township government in the state. The association suggests making it easier for townships to voluntarily merge, requiring annual education for elected trustees and creating standardized guidelines for poor relief administration.

THE ROLE OF TOWNSHIP TRUSTEES

Brewer said the highest cost for the New Albany Township Trustee's office is supporting costs of burials and cremations, which typically costs about $60,000 a year. The second highest cost is for rental and housing assistance, which costs about $50,000 a year.

"We provide stop-gap measures, and we provide pathways to people back, to help them get moving forward, and just give them some breathing room," Brewer said. "We deal with a lot of single mothers out...but then the other thing is, there's a handicap population out there or those who are on fixed income."

"For instance, you could have someone who is physically handicapped, it could be a mental handicap, it could be an emotional handicap," he said. "I deal with some people that just have severe, severe anxiety, and I have to go to them to get them applications and help them fill it out because it's difficult for them to leave their house."

The trustee's office might help someone obtain a bus pass or get their car repaired, or they might provide donated clothes, appliances or sports gear, Brewer said.

Jeffersonville Township Trustee Dale Popp said a lot falls under the umbrella of Indiana's township trustees, which are designated by state code as the "overseer of the poor."

Rent and utility assistance is the bulk of what the Jeffersonville Township Trustee's office provides, he said. Other forms of service are less clearly defined, but the office is also there to help people negotiate child support, to assist them to get on social security and connect them with necessary resources.

He describes the trustee's office as the "last resort" for many in need.

"Somebody has to sit down with these people and get them information and get them where they need to be," Popp said. "What the taxpayer, in my mind, wants us to do is to help people who need help in our community."

Popp also noted that the Jeffersonville Township Trustee is a community partner with Park Memorial United Methodist Church in owning Catalyst Rescue Mission, an emergency shelter in Jeffersonville. He emphasizes the shelter's role in helping people find permanent housing and treatment for addiction.

Brewer said the services provided by township trustees "really put people in a position where it doesn't get any worse."

"It doesn't become a bigger burden on our government taxing entities," he said. "For instance, city or county government — it frees up resources for them to be able to work on the other parts of what they do and what they do well because we're going to help keep people off the streets and keep kids in school...that's something that gets overlooked a lot."

There is an extensive application process for those seeking assistance, and the trustee's office helps people through the process, Brewer said.

"It's very in-depth so we can background check and all that stuff to where we can dig into the finances and see what's really going on," Brewer said. "We're able to help with anything from utility assistance to rental assistance to house payment assistance to even some of the minor repairs and things with vehicles."

Brewer notes that the township trustee's office has a collaborative relationship with agencies across Southern Indiana to help people access the services they need, whether that is Hope Southern Indiana or the New Albany-Floyd County Animal Shelter.

Ann Carruthers, a New Albany Township board member, said the trustee's office serves as the "benevolent arms of the community."

"I've always felt like where we're heading is to kind of join this entity with all the other providers and agencies that are working to build community and that we're all kind of working together and fulfilling the mission that there's not a gap or overlap in the process," she said.

Carruthers said the trustee's assistance with funeral arrangements is a "huge, huge support."

The trustee's office helps maintain eight cemeteries in New Albany, including ones that had fallen into a state of disrepair, and in recent years, Brewer started a rehabilitation program for local cemeteries.

"I'm proud of that, because it's our history, it's our heritage in New Albany," Brewer said. "Those are some historic, very-old cemeteries — some of our first ones."

In 2022, the New Albany Township Trustee obtained ownership of Freedomland Cemetery, a historic burial ground for African Americans in New Albany, and Brewer hopes to eventually make the cemetery, located along Paoli Pike, more accessible to the public.

Carruthers said the office is working to "really bring some dignity to that history" of Freedomland.

"It's a great opportunity for us to show that we respect all the lives that have gone before us that were part of the community and in the history of New Albany," she said.

In the ongoing legislative session, Indiana lawmakers are considering measures that would affect townships. Although legislators have discussed the potential elimination of township government in the past, the legislation proposed this year is focused instead on changes such as the merging of townships.

House Bill 1355 calls for the establishment of a pilot program that would allow the merger of certain townships in the state. This would affect townships in Switzerland, Blackford and Crawford counties. Funding for the program was removed in a House committee but the amended version is under consideration in the Senate.

Senate Bill 182 would facilitate the process for a township without a trustee or township board to combine with another township. The bill is under consideration in the House.

Both Brewer and Popp feel that the merging of some small, rural townships would make sense in Indiana if they are not facing the higher level of demand townships like Jeffersonville or New Albany are facing.

"There could be tweaks to a lot of systems," Popp said. "I would welcome the merging of some townships. There are four elected officials per township, so you would have less elected officials, and it should result in marginally lower taxes."

Carruthers said she feels that changes to some township government at the state level is "worth a discussion."

"I do think it needs to be reevaluated, and some of those agencies and trustees that are not doing things, how can you appropriate those funds to be more beneficial or perhaps combine some entities together with local government," she said.