Courtesy-City of Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ind. – The Columbus City Council voted to become a second-class city Tuesday night, a move that will restructure parts of the city government.
The council approved the second reading of an ordinance to become a second-class city in a 5-to-1 vote. The first reading was approved 6-to-1 on June 21. The change will officially go into effect on January 1, 2024.
Columbus City Council is currently made up of seven members: five representing districts, plus two at-large members. Shifting to a second-class city will mean adding an additional district-representing member and an at-large member, increasing the council to nine people.
There will also be a change in the configuration of the city’s finance department. The Clerk/Treasurer position in the city government will become a Clerk position and the city will have to hire a Controller.
Indiana cities are divided into first, second, and third-class cities. Those with 600,000 or more people are designated first-class. Cities of 35,000 to 599,999 are second-class, and cities with fewer than 35,000 citizens are third-class. Columbus is currently a third-class city with a population commensurate with a second-class city. It has had the ability to shift to a second-class city since 2000.
