Wayne Township had blown past its budget for utility bill assistance by August.
Hot summer days and ever-increasing utility bills had created a surge in need for the township’s services, said Trustee Jeb Bardon, who oversees one of Marion County’s largest townships.
More than 1,000 people, often seniors on fixed incomes, had come to them for assistance that month.
Overall, he said, the number of people requesting assistance had nearly tripled.
“It’s shocking how much it’s gone up,” he said.
As state legislators and Gov. Mike Braun’s office explore potential changes to township government, trustees in Marion County are being inundated with requests for assistance, they told IndyStar.
They welcomed efforts to increase efficiency but cautioned against an approach that could take away local control and harm constituents dealing with a rising cost-of-living.
Above all, they emphasized how different Marion County’s townships are from the hundreds of townships across the state. Wayne Township, which serves a population of 140,000, is bigger than some counties. And while more than three quarters of Indiana’s townships spent more on trustee and board member salaries in 2024 than they did on poor relief, according to an IndyStar analysis of township assistance and compensation data, most of Marion County’s townships spent more on assistance.
No county distributed as much poor relief as Marion County, whose nine townships doled out a combined $4 million in assistance last year.
Here are four graphics that demonstrate how Marion County stacks up against other counties.
Marion County township assistance outpaces trustee pay
Altogether, Marion County townships spent nearly four times as much on assistance as they did on trustee and board pay, but that’s far from the case for every county. Of the eight counties bordering Marion County, only five spent more on assistance than pay.
Part of that is because the need is high and appears to be rising, trustees told IndyStar.
Decatur Township, the smallest in Marion County, has also seen more requests for assistance, said Trustee Jason Holliday. The amounts requested are higher too, Holliday said, as rent soars year after year.
His office provides assistance to around 325 to 375 people per year, he said. In 2024, the trustee’s office spent $66,585 in assistance and $123,000 on trustee and board pay, making Decatur one of two Indianapolis townships that spent more on compensation than assistance.
Marion County townships vary in size and assistance
There appears to be some correlation between the size of the township and how much it spends on assistance. Decatur Township has 36,000 people to Wayne Township’s 140,000, for example.
Center Township topped the list for distributing the most assistance in Marion County last year. It’s another large township that includes downtown Indianapolis.
Though Decatur Township provides the least assistance of the Marion County townships, Holliday said having a hyperlocal layer of government is essential. He has lived his entire life within the township, save a few months for college. His connection to the community helps him provide truly local services to his constituents, he said, a feature of township government that would be lost if it were eliminated.
“Some people come here to the trustee’s office because they hit dead ends when they try to go down to City Hall,” he said.
Instead of complete elimination, Holliday said he would be open to consolidating some rural townships that give out minimal assistance.
Marion County trustees among highest paid
Five of Marion County’s nine townships ranked among the highest in the state for total spend on trustee and board salaries. In Marion County the boards are larger, which means more people to pay.
Wayne Township ranked fourth for total trustee and board member pay. It’s one of few within Indianapolis that still operates its own fire department — one of the largest in the state, according to Bardon — though the board has explored a merger with the Indianapolis Fire Department.
That proposal was ultimately tabled last year. But Bardon expressed interest in continuing to pursue the idea, as long as it was done in a way that doesn’t harm the township or the city.
It’s not the first effort the township has taken to be more efficient, either. It recently merged its ambulance services with the city’s, generating nearly $3 million in savings.
Marion County townships spend millions in assistance
Three Marion County townships ranked in the top 10 for distributing the most poor relief, though townships in Allen and Lake County topped the list at around $1.5 million each.
The sheer amount of aid underscores the importance of townships as a way to help a community in need, trustees told IndyStar.
Bardon supports modernizing township government and finding efficiencies when possible. But having accessible, local government is important, he said, and would be damaged if township services were transferred to county government.
“For people who are struggling to make it, that’s a sense of hope that there is somebody who is there to try and help you,” he said. “I’d hate to see us get rid of that.”
Contact Marissa Meador at mmeador@gannett.com or find her on X at @marissa_meador.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: What Marion County townships spend on poor relief and salaries: 4 graphics that tell the story
Reporting by Marissa Meador and Hayleigh Colombo, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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