Those last two recommendations have officials in smaller communities upset.

“We're it. We're a two-person office,” said Olive Township Trustee John Michalski.

Even though township governments were created in a time when horses and buggies were the only form of transportation — Michalski says they're still relevant.

“Let's face it, we are a farming community also, and there's nobody in the city of South Bend that understands a farmer, unless you're a farmer, and that's what we all are out here,” he said. “It makes a difference, a big difference.”

He thinks the consolidation of services such as poor relief and the assessment of property would inconvenience those who live in smaller communities.

“The only place they have to walk in to protest or find out what is going on, is through that door out there,” Michalski said. “If that door doesn't exist in this community, you could stand out here on the street corner here for days, you'll never catch a bus to South Bend because we have no transportation in here.“

At the New Carlisle library, the list of people wanting to save the library from consolidation grows by the day.

“I don't think the taxpayers here are going to want to just roll over and say, ‘OK, here, you can just take over our library,’” said Library Director Steven Boggs.

Especially since those taxpayers spent $5 million to build the library.

“They're so proud of the fact that a small area like ours can have a facility that is like this, because we are very rare throughout the Midwest for this small of a community to have this type of facility,” Boggs said.

Both men agree with the need to lower taxes, but they say taking away what makes a community unique is not the way to do it.

State lawmakers would have to approve many of those recommendations. House Speaker B. Pat Bauer says voters should approve some of them.

Governor Daniels has not said which proposal he will push during the upcoming session.

View the full report here (.pdf)