The Allen County Board of Commissioners will vote on whether to approve or deny a petition for incorporating the town of Harlan during its legislative session Friday.  The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in the Commissioners’ Courtroom on the 2nd floor of the City-County Building.

Those supporting the incorporation of Harlan filed their petition with the Board of Commissioners’ Office on December 4, 2009.  Commissioners held a public hearing on the petition in Harlan on February 23, 2010.

According to the state code governing the incorporation of towns and cities in Indiana, six criteria must be met in order for the Board of Commissioners to approve an incorporation petition.  Included among the criteria is:

• That the proposed town is reasonably compact and contiguous;
• That the proposed town includes enough territory to allow for reasonable growth in the foreseeable future;
• That the proposed town could finance proposed municipal services with a reasonable tax rate, using the current assessed valuation of properties as a basis for calculation; and
• That incorporation is in the best interest of the territory involved.