The Journal Gazette, 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne IN

Harlan’s efforts to become a town probably come as a surprise to some area residents who thought it already was. Hoosiers, after all, often refer to any spot on the map as a town.

But Harlan isn’t a town – nor are Hoagland, Yoder, Arcola, Poe, Zulu, Cuba, Lake Everett or a few other places on the map, ranging from a couple of homes at a crossroads to what many would consider communities. Nor, for that matter, is New Haven or Woodburn – both are officially cities, not towns.

Cities and towns are incorporated as municipalities; other places are referred to as unincorporated.

All Indiana cities and towns provide for police and fire service, and many arrange for garbage collection and water and sewer service – collecting taxes to pay for it. Communities such as Hoagland and Harlan, though, really don’t have a local government other than the county. The township may provide fire protection or help finance the community fire departments, but otherwise, any money for community projects comes mostly through fundraising.

Residents of Zanesville, a community that lies on both sides of the Allen-Wells County line, decided to incorporate as a town in 1992 to become eligible for federal funding of a sewer system to replace septic tanks. Now that the system is built and has come under the control of Fort Wayne City Utilities, some residents have raised the idea of dropping the town status and going back to being unincorporated, said Julie Christian, the town’s elected clerk-treasurer. But “I think most of the people enjoy having our own town marshal,” she said.

Leo-Cedarville incorporated in 1995, largely as a protectionist move provoked by fears – unfounded – of a Fort Wayne annexation. Officials there decided rather than hiring a town marshal, they would contract with the Allen County Sheriff’s Department for a designated officer. Huntertown has the same deal with the sheriff; Grabill’s contract calls for a certain level of patrols without a designated officer. Monroeville has a town marshal but contracts with the sheriff’s department for times when the marshal is off duty or away.

Many property owners fear that becoming a city or town raises taxes, and that usually is the case. But schools are the biggest driver of property taxes, explaining why residents of unincorporated Arcola (in the Northwest Allen County Schools district) pay higher taxes than residents of incorporated Leo-Cedarville and Grabill (East Allen County Schools).

The accompanying map shows some details about services in the county’s smaller incorporated municipalities as well as the bigger unincorporated places.