HAMMOND | If the county takes over services currently administered by township government, many residents could see their tax bills increase.

That's the message North Township Trustee Frank J. Mrvan gave North Township advisory board members Tuesday afternoon during their monthly meeting. Mrvan said if Lake County takes over township services, namely poor relief, and has to use a formula that equally shares the overall cost, residents in Munster, Highland and many other communities could see their tax bills increase, due to Calumet Township's much higher percentage of residents receiving assistance.

"All the townships in the county have a much, much less tax rate than Gary," North Township financial consultant Jim Bennett said.

A series of bills are currently floating in the Indiana General Assembly that could spell the end of township government in the state. The most prominent bill, Mrvan said, calls for the electorate to decide whether it would like township government eliminated and responsibilities like poor relief, parks, cemeteries and rural fire protection handed off to the county.

Mrvan said right now residents in Hammond, Whiting, East Chicago, Munster and Highland pay about $65 a year in property taxes on a $100,000 home. He said that's substantially less than residents of Calumet Township, where a coalition of Griffith residents has petitioned to be separated from Gary.

"We need (residents) to know the value of the services we provide," Mrvan said. "We're not Griffith and Calumet Township."

Mrvan said North Township has enacted a series of reforms in cutting costs that could be applied to other townships. For example, while North Township had 27,500 people ask for assistance last year, only 15,000 ever received assistance. Mrvan said his office's standing policy is to first work with area charitable and social service organizations to see if aid is available before relying on dollars from taxpayers.