Voters in Ellettsville and unincorporated Richland Township approved reorganizing the township into the town, with 3,007 votes in favor and 2,480 against. The change is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2027, and will bring planning authority, police response and rural road maintenance under the reorganized town.
The measure, labeled Town of Ellettsville Reorganization, passed with support reported at 54.8% by The Bloomingtonian; Indiana Public Media reported 54.9% support overall. In the unincorporated parts of Richland Township, the vote was 1,512 to 1,479, a margin of 33 votes, Indiana Public Media reported. Approval required more than 50% support from both town residents and township residents, according to The Herald-Times.
William Ellis told the Herald-Times he hoped the reorganization would pass but wished the township's margin had been larger. He said the town results reflected residents' faith in current leadership and that the township would need to earn similar trust.
What Changes Under the New Government
The draft reorganization plan consolidates all of Richland Township into Ellettsville. It calls for a seven-member elected council: five seats held by current Ellettsville Town Council members and two at-large seats filled by the current Township Board members who received the most votes in the 2026 election, according to the Town of Ellettsville draft plan of reorganization.
The reorganized council will have planning and zoning authority across the area. Planning and zoning authority in rural Richland will transfer from Monroe County to Ellettsville, Indiana Public Media reported. The reorganized town will also take over police response and rural road maintenance in the area it absorbs.
Existing water and wastewater providers will remain unchanged, according to the Herald-Times. Some services will differ during the transition: Ellettsville residents currently receive leaf and brush pickup, but township residents should not expect that service in the first year of reorganization, the paper reported.
How services and local finances will transition
The Town of Ellettsville draft plan anticipates that property tax rates for police and existing debt service would apply only within the town's current boundaries, while rates for town administration, parks and recreation, and fire would apply across the consolidated area. For 2027, the current town and township fiscal bodies must approve the reorganized government's budget, property tax levies and rates through an ordinance and a resolution, respectively, according to the Town of Ellettsville draft plan of reorganization and the Ellettsville-Richland Township Finance Sub-Committee Report. As a current service arrangement, Richland Township's trustee website says the township contracts with the Ellettsville Fire Department for fire protection: Richland Township Trustee.
A Resident's Perspective From the Opposition
Anna Bednarski, who opposed the merger, told the Herald-Times that taking part in the debate increased her awareness of Ellettsville politics. She said she hoped residents would stay engaged in local decisions as the reorganization moves forward.
Part of a Broader Statewide Push
The Ellettsville-Richland vote lands amid a wider statewide effort to shrink the number of Indiana townships. The state currently has about 1,000 townships, and a consolidation of hundreds of them is possible under Senate Bill 270, according to CSG Midwest. The law's author estimated that about 325 townships could ultimately face mergers, per the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
CSG Midwest reports the new law sets up a process for analyzing township performance that is likely to lead to further consolidations across the state. A public administration professor told the Indiana Daily Student that funding adequate fire protection is especially challenging in sparsely populated areas, a dynamic that has fueled interest in mergers like the one Ellettsville and Richland Township voters just approved.
