Zionsville — The nine-member group representing Eagle and Union townships and the Town of Zionsville has a challenging task: Combining southeast Boone County’s traditional layers of government into a solitary unit by January 2010. The Transition Committee for the Reorganization began the task at its first meeting Tuesday, Jan. 20.

Voters accepted in November a referendum that will merge the townships and the town into one government entity. The new Town of Zionsville will encompass more than 50 square miles, compared to its current 12-square mile size.

The Plan of Government Reorganization, which was drafted by a committee over 18 months, was a legislative framework for the new government structure. Now, the transition committee will fill in the important details so town officials are ready to lead when it goes into effect.

“It’s a good committee,” Zionsville Town Council President Matt Price said. “Everybody came with the right frame of mind and ready to work.”

At the meeting, Price was elected committee president; Eagle Township Board member Jeff Papa was named secretary. Then six three-member subcommittees were designated:

n Governance — Rob Schein, Tim Haak and Mike Deiss will assess redistricting matters, expansion and changes to boards and commissions, determine legislative steps needed, and update poor relief guidelines from the township programs.

n Budget/finance — Matt Price, Ralph Stacy and Jim Sanford will formulate a 2010 budget recommendation by April or May to meet state deadlines.

n Public safety — Art Harris, Jeff Papa and Dan Montgomery will address the two-tiered service district issues, fire issues, and the primary provision of police through the Boone County Sheriff’s Department in the rural district.

n Land use and planning — Mike Deiss, Matt Price and Rob Schein will write and adopt ordinances for the new Zionsville in accordance with the current comprehensive plan.

n Parks — Ralph Stacy, Art Harris and Jim Sanford will oversee the merger of township parks into the town parks system, and will address cemetery upkeep issues from the townships.

n Infrastructure — Jeff Papa, Dan Montgomery and Tim Haak will assess infrastructure capital improvement recommendations, and oversee interlocal utility agreements with Boone County and surrounding communities for the rural service district.

Price’s budget subcommittee met Saturday, Jan. 24, to begin work. He said although the town will grow about five times in size, the two-tiered service system will keep the town’s budget about the same. He believes the most difficult part of the 2010 budget, as it is for all Indiana towns, is dealing with tax caps.

“I believe we’ll be able to reorganize the entities and create a new town budget with the tax cap legislation,” Price said. “Residents should expect a unified government and an overall reduction in their property taxes as a result of the tax caps. The intent of reorganization was to keep that budget in line with pre-existing budgets.”

According to Papa, subcommittees are tasked to meet within the next week to identify timelines, and to identify any professional resources they may need. For example, the governance committee will likely require outside assistance in re-drawing district lines.

The subcommittees will file written reports with the full transition committee, which will hold its second meeting Tuesday, Feb. 17 at Zionsville Town Hall.