Cleveland Township Board Member, Elkhart County

You cannot pay the rent or the heating bill

The office most likely to help is the one almost nobody votes on.

1. Trustee

   Township assistance is the trustee's to administer: emergency help with rent, utilities and other basic needs, decided locally and paid from the township's own levy. ^{[1, 7]}

2. Township Board

   The board set that levy in advance, before anyone knew how much help would be asked for, and it approves the trustee's annual report on what was spent. ^{[2, 8]}

Township Board

Three people who adopt the township's budget and its tax levy.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

• To Trustee: The board adopts the annual budget, the appropriations and the tax levy, approves the trustee's annual report, and sets the pay of the trustee and of every township officer and employee. ^{[2, 8, 9, 10]}
• From Trustee: The trustee prepares the estimated budget for the board's annual meeting, then files the adopted budget with the state and files the annual township assistance report. ^{[1, 11]}
• To State tax agency: The township's adopted budget and levy go to the state like every other unit's, and come back certified as a rate that the county then puts on the tax bill. ^{[12, 11]}

Everything this office does, with sources

Trustee

Runs township assistance, and in many townships the fire service.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

• From Township Board: The board adopts the annual budget, the appropriations and the tax levy, approves the trustee's annual report, and sets the pay of the trustee and of every township officer and employee. ^{[2, 8, 9, 10]}
• To Township Board: The trustee prepares the estimated budget for the board's annual meeting, then files the adopted budget with the state and files the annual township assistance report. ^{[1, 11]}
• To Residents in need, and the fire service: The trustee administers township assistance, which is emergency help with rent, utilities and other basic needs, and in many townships also provides fire protection. ^{[1, 7]}

Everything this office does, with sources

Township Assessor

Values property inside this township. Only a few townships still have one.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

• To County Auditor: Where a township assessor exists, that office does the assessing inside the township, and the values go into the same county books as everywhere else. ^{[4, 13]}

Everything this office does, with sources

Residents in need, and the fire service

People who need emergency help with rent, utilities or heat, and everyone the fire service covers.

The people the money is spent on, not an office.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

• From Trustee: The trustee administers township assistance, which is emergency help with rent, utilities and other basic needs, and in many townships also provides fire protection. ^{[1, 7]}

State tax agency

The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance. It turns every local budget into a tax rate.

A state agency in Indianapolis. No election fills it.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

• From Township Board: The township's adopted budget and levy go to the state like every other unit's, and come back certified as a rate that the county then puts on the tax bill. ^{[12, 11]}

County Auditor

The county office the township's assessed values feed into.

Who it works with, and what passes between them:

• From Township Assessor: Where a township assessor exists, that office does the assessing inside the township, and the values go into the same county books as everywhere else. ^{[4, 13]}

Everything this office does, with sources