A group of Harlan residents is again pushing for the community to become an incorporated town, and area residents will have the chance to weigh in during a public hearing next month.

The Allen County Plan Commission will conduct a public hearing on the matter Jan. 14 before making a recommendation to the county commissioners whether Harlan should become an incorporated town with taxing authority.

The rural community along Indiana 37 in Springfield Township is part of unincorporated Allen County, and the county commissioners serve as the local government for residents.

Residents in November resubmitted a petition with 185 verified signatures seeking to incorporate. A similar petition filed a year ago expired before it could go to the plan commission for a hearing. The upcoming 2010 census also delayed the process.

According to paperwork filed with the county, the town would provide police, fire and medical protection; planning services; roads and streets; and parks and recreation services. Those services could cost about $610,000 a year and an estimated $347,000 in new property taxes would help pay for them.

In comparison, Woodburn and Grabill collected about $163,000 and $267,000 worth of local property taxes in 2009, according to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.

Incorporating would increase the amount of property taxes that property owners pay. This year, the owner of a $100,000 home in Springfield Township paid $507 – money that went to the township, school district, county, library and airport.

Supporters of incorporation say they want, among other controls, a greater say in the town’s future, local representation and better services like streetlights and garbage collection. Although organizers have collected enough signatures to petition a hearing, opponents have submitted their own petition asking the county commissioners to nix the idea.

Opponent Paul Collins worries about how the extra tax burden will affect struggling homeowners and businesses. Several homes are in foreclosure and several businesses have closed their doors in Harlan, he said.

“All the incorporation is going to do is raise our taxes,” Collins said. “People just don’t have the money right now.”

He and several other residents collected signatures over several days this summer and submitted 237 signatures asking the commissioners not to allow Harlan to become a town.

State law outlines the steps needed to halt the process once a petition for incorporation is filed. More than half of property owners or the owners of three-fourths the town’s land value would need to sign a formal remonstrance and the county auditor would need to verify the signatures.

But supporters of the town issue are excited for the public hearing, which is the furthest step the incorporation process has reached since residents began meeting to discuss the idea three years ago, said supporter Marquita Hertig.

“It’s finally moving forward,” Hertig said.

Residents want to have more say over the town’s future and to ensure some of the tax dollars they pay remain in the community, she said.

“Right now we feel like we’re being totally ignored,” Hertig said. “We’re not being heard at all. We’re not being represented.”

aiacone@jg.net