Unigov

The movement of affluent citizens to more fashionable suburbs, especially to the north of the city limits, accelerated into full white flight in the period after World War II.

In addition, fire service and school districts were maintained at their pre-Unigov borders, and some of the included towns retained independent police forces.

A number of services and governmental responsibilities, including road maintenance, natural resource management, zoning, and flood control, are delegated by the state of Indiana to county-level government; As a result, residents of the excluded cities are obligated to pay county-wide taxes, and the powers of the mayor of Indianapolis extend to all of Marion County.

The town governments have taxing authority, and several continue to appoint their own police departments, maintain their own streets, and perform various other functions independently of the city of Indianapolis.

Residents also are represented on the City-County Council and vote for the mayor of Indianapolis because these countywide officials have taxing and other powers over the whole county.

Facing a budget crisis, Peterson made a proposal to further consolidate city and county functions, dubbed "Indianapolis Works!".

He claimed it would eliminate remaining duplication, while opponents saw it as an effort to further consolidate the power of the Democratic Party in Marion County.

[8] In the 2007 municipal elections, the Republican party, led by Gregory A. Ballard, recaptured the Mayor's office and also won back a majority of the City-County Council.

One of the planks of Ballard's campaign platform was that the police department needed to be under the responsibility of the mayor, and not the sheriff.

In February 2008, the new GOP-led council gave the authority over the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to the mayor, leaving Sheriff Frank J. Anderson with authority over the county jail, protection of City-County buildings and the traditional roles of tax collection and paper serving, but left him as the only sheriff in Indiana without territory to protect.

By 2006, Fort Wayne nearly met the threshold for designation as a First Class City as it annexed the populous portions of Aboite Township.

[13] Due to public push back and lack of political appetite, Unigov left many government services as is and did not integrate them.

The impact on Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) in particular contributed to declines in enrollment and funding over many decades.