Cumberland seeks through state legislation to split from Unigov

Leaders for the town of Cumberland, a suburban enclave of just under 3 square miles that straddles the line between Marion and Hancock counties, want to separate from Indianapolis government.

A bill making its way through the Statehouse is the path to that goal.

If House Bill 1131 becomes law, Cumberland will be the first community since the formation of Unigov in 1970 to be granted the autonomy of an excluded municipality. It would join the original excluded municipalities of Beech Grove, Southport, Lawrence and Speedway.

Town Manager Ben Lipps told IBJ leaving the consolidated government of Indianapolis and Marion County is necessary to give Cumberland more control over its own development as the town grows. Project proposals in the Marion County portion of Cumberland would no longer need approval from governments in both Cumberland and Indianapolis, which could speed the development process. Since Hancock County doesn’t have a consolidated government structure, Cumberland leaders already have final say on developments in the Hancock County side of town.

When Unigov took effect 55 years ago, all municipalities in Indianapolis with 5,000 residents or more were excluded. The cities of Beech Grove, Southport and Lawrence and the town of Speedway met that criteria. Municipalities with fewer than 5,000 residents—Cumberland had about 500 at that time—were included in consolidation.

Cumberland now has 6,400 residents, and more are likely to move in. Lipps said in the past two years the town has approved or is considering developments that will add 2,800 houses and apartments.

Christine Owens, Cumberland assistant town manager, said the town’s population could be 10,000 to 12,000 by 2030, based on the current influx of building permits. Over the last 18 months, the Cumberland Plan Commission approved the construction of 393 home lots, 41 town house lots, and 282 apartments.

Cumberland is already more actively independent than most included towns in Marion County. It has an elected town council, a police department, departments overseeing streets and utilities, and staff members that work in planning and development.

“The change for us, I think, is really being able to use those tools and just bring the same quality of life to our Marion County residents that we bring to our Hancock County residents,” Lipps told IBJ.

Impact

HB 1131, if passed, would make Cumberland an “excluded city” starting in 2027. Just like the town of Speedway, the excluded-city term under Unigov code wouldn’t give Cumberland the government structure of a city; it would still be a town.

Residents in a Unigov excluded city elect a representative to the Indianapolis City-County Council and vote for Indianapolis mayor and Marion County officials.

Unigov controls municipal corporations, including the Marion County Health and Hospital Corp., IndyGo and the Indianapolis Public Library system.

The state’s Department of Local Government Finance and city of Indianapolis leaders are still looking at the potential financial impact of giving Cumberland excluded city status. But one clear change is that property tax dollars collected on the Marion County side of Cumberland would no longer go to Indianapolis.

Lipps estimated that the impact to Indianapolis would be less than $38,000 a year, the town’s tax levy. Indianapolis’ 2025 budget is $1.65 billion; Cumberland’s is $6.7 million.

Rep. Doug Miller, R-Elkhart, is the legislation’s author. Although he has no geographic tie to the county, a lobbyist for Cumberland approached Miller due to his positions as chair of the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee and as a member of the House Local Government Committee.

“After hearing their story about their growth and their plans for growth for the next half a decade to decade, I was intrigued and excited, quite frankly, to be able to help get them on the path of their own governance and get government closer to home,” Miller told IBJ.

The House Local Government Committee on Monday gave the bill initial approval. Lawmakers on that committee amended the bill to clarify that Cumberland would continue to receive services from the Indianapolis Fire Department and that the town would be liable for its own debt service.

The legislation now awaits a hearing before the full House.

Rep. Mitch Gore, D-Indianapolis, grew up on the Marion County side of Cumberland, which he now represents at the Statehouse. He said he’s supportive of the concept but is waiting on hard numbers before he officially endorses the bill.

“I just want to be sure that we’re not going to end up in a position where the shifting revenue ends up actually reducing services [to] Cumberland,” Gore said.

Aliya Wishner, a spokeswoman for the Mayor’s Office, said in a statement that the Hogsett administration has communicated with leaders at the Statehouse and in Cumberland about the proposed legislation but is still evaluating the potential impacts on Indianapolis.

The town has garnered support from several lawmakers in the majority party. Lipps said the bill has the support of newly elected Rep. Ethan Lawson, R-Greenfield, who represents the Hancock County portion of Cumberland, and Rep. Alaina Shonkwiler, R-Noblesville, who worked with Cumberland as an economic development consultant. Fellow Republican Reps. Dave Heine, Fort Wayne, and Jim Pressel, Rolling Prairie, are co-authors of the legislation. In Indianapolis, Republican City-County Councilor Micheal-Paul Hart represents the Marion County section of Cumberland. He said he supports the town’s effort, citing an interest in local control for Cumberland town officials.

Development challenges

Lipps has been town manager for nearly four years but has worked for Cumberland for 18 years. Before becoming town manager, he was Cumberland’s director of public works. He said in years past, the prevailing feeling among Cumberland leaders was that “a lot of things weren’t possible” when it came to development.

When Lipps took the helm in 2021, he and the town council hired economic development consultants. He’s since hosted developer roundtables to understand development challenges in Cumberland.

One important distinction between the two sides of Cumberland is that Hancock County has farmland ripe for development, while Marion County is dense with existing buildings.

Even so, Lipps said, developers have identified plots in Marion County for projects only to later decide that working within the confines of Indianapolis’ zoning, permitting and incentive process was too much. Those developers would rather work in Hancock County, Lipps said. He declined to name specific developers or projects.

Indianapolis “does redevelopment all throughout the county and they do a good job,” Lipps told IBJ. “It just gets hard [in Cumberland] with this blended layer of government.”

Cumberland’s development in Hancock County has flipped the town’s population share from about 60% Marion County to 60% Hancock County over the last few years, Lipps said.

That’s in part because Cumberland is able to approve developer incentives for projects in Hancock County more quickly than those in Marion County.

“We pursue those [Marion County projects and incentives] and work with them. It’s just hard to get those across the finish line,” he said.

Additionally, Lipps and his colleagues at the town want to use in Marion County the same project funding tools they use in Hancock County. There, Cumberland charges developers park impact fees, which fund local park projects, and similar fees for new roads and stormwater system extension. But those fees aren’t allowed in Indianapolis.

Long history

Barbara Lawrence, now Marion County treasurer, has a unique perspective on the intricacies of Unigov. She led the town of Speedway as town manager from 2008 to 2014. She said Unigov aimed to provide unified services across the county, but lawmakers and city leaders are beginning to realize that municipalities within it are going to grow and develop on their own.

“There’s been some acknowledgment that perhaps changes need to be made,” Lawrence told IBJ.

Cumberland can look to Speedway as an example of how a town operates as an excluded city. When Lawrence led Speedway, she said, there were times the town happily deferred to Indianapolis, such as in situations where Marion County had a specific ordinance or regulation that Speedway didn’t. That was a benefit of running an excluded city within Unigov, she said

But there were also drawbacks. Lawrence said Speedway sometimes was forced to coordinate with Indianapolis officials on zoning or redevelopment matters, like when the town revitalized and redeveloped its Main Street.

To that end, “you sort of learn how to operate in your lane of traffic,” she said.•