Community Taxpayers Raise Questions About Madison Township

August 23, 2022 the Community Taxpayers Association met for their regularly scheduled quarterly meeting.

On the agenda was a review of the association’s fund raising, a discussion regarding Madison Township, reports from all other townships, Morgan County, the Mooresville Consolidated School Board, and the treasurer’s report.

The meeting began with the approval of the minutes from the special meeting in July. Virginia Perry gave the treasurer’s report. She noted that the iPad fundraiser had raised enough to cover the expense, with a small profit for the association.

The board members opened discussion about fundraisers, both past and future. It was agreed upon that Virginia Perry would organize another dine to donate at Applebee’s, as it had been successful in the past, to be announced at a later date. Dr. Larry Moore, board president, spoke about the iPad raffle that has been done at Old Settlers the past 2 years. He stated that he found most people uninterested and suggested a different incentive such as gift cards, or a 50/50 raffle with a cash prize. The board agreed that more discussion would take place at future meetings.

The board opened the floor to Sgt. At Arms – Larry Ellis for a discussion regarding ongoing concerns within Madison Township. Mr. Ellis had several concerns he wanted to bring before the board. Mr. Ellis advised there are currently 4 Madison Township apparatus out of service, and that he has seen station 31 closed several times due to understaffing. Concerns were expressed that residents might find themselves unprotected in the event of a fire. Mr. Ellis also advised that there has been a high rate of overtime pay, due to the understaffing, and estimated that Madison Township could pay out $90,000.00 more than was originally budgeted. He suggested solutions to these problems, that he hopes to implement, should he be elected trustee in November.

Mr. Ellis also spoke about contracts that have been made with the township. Specifically, a contract with Kent Concrete, llc. This company has pushed back their start date, and since asked for partial payment up front. He believes that may be illegal according to state statutes that require payment after services rendered. Mr. Ellis suggested that they pay close attention to this contract due to issues with a prior contract for roofing work to be done on the fire stations. $150,000.00 was paid out to Tim Haynes, of Haynes Roofing, on December 14, 2021 before services were rendered or materials delivered. It was Mr. Ellis’s understanding that the execution of the roofing contract has been handed over to the township’s law firm due to lack of communication from the contractor because it has been over 9 months since payment was made. Mr. Ellis pointed out that the financial burden of the need for legal services will fall on taxpayers. He expressed frustration that this could have been avoided if the initial contracting process had been handled appropriately in 2021.

Dr. Moore asked what the association could do about it and, after lengthy discussion, a vote was taken to have Dr. Moore draft a letter outlining the general concerns of the board and disseminate that letter to several news stations, the SBOA, the DGLF, and the ISP White Collar Crime Division. The letter will also be sent out to those on the Community Taxpayers Association email list.

County Commissioner Don Adams presented a report for Morgan County. He stated that a decision had been made with regards to the courthouse and administration building in Martinsville. He indicated that there would be a tax increase due to these improvements. He also mentioned the Bicentennial Celebration on September 24, 2022 in Waverly, and some additional projects that are still in early phases.

Virginia Perry gave a report for Brown Township. She mentioned that the second meeting of the board would be held the following week to set the 2023 budget. She felt there should have been more meetings this year – but that the president of the Brown Township Advisory board expressed he was too busy. She stated that the board president handles IT business for Brown Township, and that the third board member is an employee of the board president.

Superintendent Randy Taylor presented a report for Mooresville Consolidated School Corporation. He highlighted that Mooresville was able to start with 100% of positions filled, even with most districts seeing struggles in that area.  He mentioned that enrollment is up a bit, but those numbers tend to fluctuate at the beginning of the year, and that we are seeing higher transfer rates than Center Grove or Plainfield. He said that Dr. Jake Allen had just finished up the budget to be sent off to the state and noted that tax rates for the school board would not increase, and that he believed they had not been raised in 14 years. He congratulated teachers and support staff for a great start off to the year.

The new business conducted was setting the next quarterly meeting for November 22, 2022 at 6:30pm, and voting to renew the board’s insurance as soon as possible.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00pm