Editor's note: This story is part 2 of a series looking at the push to consolidate Indiana's units of government as they work to do more with less amid property tax reform.

Indiana’s 1,000-plus townships have been desperate for years to convince lawmakers they’re more than a relic from the time most Hoosiers traveled by horse and not Hyundai.

The local units of Indiana government responsible for poor relief, cemetery care, rural fire service, noxious weed removal, fence disputes and not much else have so far survived numerous legislative attempts starting in the Gov. Mitch Daniels era to force consolidations or outright extinction of the system.

But their time might be running out under Gov. Mike Braun’s administration.

Braun’s office and some key lawmakers have signaled an appetite to

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