INDIANAPOLIS — At the regular monthly meeting of the Wayne Township Board Thursday, the board passed a resolution proposed by Trustee David “King” Baird to transfer money from a dormant fire territory fund to the rainy day fund.

The money, in the amount of $1,675,696, was left in a fund for the Clermont Fire Territory, which has since been disbanded.

Baird published the additional appropriation announcement in a March edition of the Court and Commercial Record and the Marion County Republican Party responded by saying Baird was attempting to raise taxes.

“Voters and residents in Wayne Township should be outraged that David Baird is trying to increase taxes, especially after the Indianapolis Star cited the Wayne Township Trustee’s office as a prime example of inefficiency and mismanagement in local government,” said party Chairman Tom John in a press release.

However, at the meeting, Township Accountant Curtis Coonrod said he was the one who brought the money to the attention of Baird and the Township Board.

“My job is to keep the township legal, I was not expecting this would be controversial at all,” Coonrod said. “With a territory that no longer exists, ordinarily taxpayers don’t want money sitting around and whenever the purpose of a tax levy has been filled, the board is required to (move the money).”

Coonrod said there were three options of what to do with the money and that was what the board was to vote on at their meeting.

“Another Indiana code section gives guidance to the township to transfer that money in one of three ways,” he said. “One is to pay any township assistant debt that is outstanding and Wayne Township has none. Two is to transfer the money to the poor relief fund, and three is to transfer the money to the rainy day fund.”

Coonrod said the board could vote to transfer the money to the rainy day fund and then later designate it to go back into the fire protection fund.

Bob Lutz, town attorney for Clermont and City-County Council member for District 13 in Indianapolis, said he didn’t want to see the money just sit in a dormant fund.

“One of the last things I want to have happen is that (the money) just sit and not be used,” Lutz said. “If they’re going to be put in the rainy day fund, it should be later appropriated in the fire fund. This is not a tax increase.”

Baird said moving the money was a matter of budgetary housekeeping.

“The trustee’s office will propose a budget and we have to assess all of our resources and if any funds are in dormant funds, we cannot appropriate funds out of it, so it can’t be available for us to use,” he said. “We’re making every attempt we can to ease the tax burden on our citizens.”

He said the public would be made aware if any money was to be spent.

“If this money is ever appropriated, you will know about it,” he said. “Why would Wayne Township have an account they can’t do anything with? There is nothing on the table to put this money toward. Our budget is public, our guidelines are public, we are transparent.”

Indianapolis resident Charles David said he was concerned that moving the money would lead to tax increases down the road.

“If you have no plans on using it, why move it? I’m afraid you’re moving it into a fund and then you will come back to the taxpayers and say we need more in the rainy day fund,” David said. “This is the first step to spending money.”

Lynn McWhirter, deputy trustee for the township, said they could not tax residents for the fund.

“We cannot tax the residents of Wayne Township for a rainy day fund,” she said. “That is not a taxable fund.”

The board’s options now will be to leave the money in the rainy day fund, or appropriate it to something else, like the fire protection fund. The only action that was taken at the meeting, however, was the board’s approval of the resolution to move the money to the rainy day fund.

Also at the meeting, Baird spoke to the audience about the latest figures on consolidating with the Indianapolis Fire Department. Wayne Township still has its own fire department, though Perry, Warren, and Washington townships have all decided to consolidate with IFD.

Baird said they now have the figures to prove that it doesn’t save taxpayer money to consolidate.

“We have the numbers of where Washington Township and where Warren Township were before they consolidated and where they are now, and they went up,” Baird said. “Now they’re saying ‘Oh well, we never really intended to save money (with the consolidation).’ I think the citizens deserve the truth, the figures are what they are.”

The next meeting of the Wayne Township Board is 6 p.m. May 14 at the Wayne Township Government Center, at 5401 W. Washington St.

For more information or to contact the trustee’s office, call 241-4191 or visit the website at www.waynetwp.org.

charlee.beasor@flyergroup.com