IN SB0270

Designated townships with at least 4 points based on performance criteria (no township assistance provided, failure to file reports, low budgets under $100,000, vacant offices, etc.) must merge with another township by January 1, 2029, with each county required to retain at least 2 townships after mergers

Townships where at least 80% of boundaries coincide with a municipality and 51% of population resides within that municipality must be dissolved and reorganized into the recipient municipality by January 1, 2029, with township services transferred to the municipality

County legislative bodies cannot unilaterally require units participating in a reorganization (begun between November 1-30, 2025) to be added to an existing fire protection district during negotiations or after a reorganization plan is adopted

Pre-merger indebtedness and pension obligations remain the responsibility of the original taxpayers and cannot be transferred to taxpayers who were not responsible before the merger

Township trustees must submit annual fire protection information to the Department of Local Government Finance beginning in 2026, and county fiscal bodies may transfer township assessor duties to the county assessor if the office has been vacant for 90+ days and a caucus failed to fill it