1 1 STATE OF INDIANA ) ) SS: 2 COUNTY OF MONROE ) 3 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF MONROE COUNTY 4 CAUSE NO. 53C06-2203-PL-000509 5 6 COUNTY RESIDENTS AGAINST ANNEXATION, ) INC., an Indiana not for profit ) 7 corporation, et al. ) ) 8 ) ) 9 Remonstrators/Appellants/Petitioners,) ) 10 -vs- ) ) 11 THE COMMON COUNCIL of the City of ) Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, ) 12 et al. ) ) 13 Respondents. ) 14 15 DEPOSITION OF RICHARD PEACH 16 17 The deposition upon oral examination of RICHARD PEACH, a witness produced and sworn before 18 me, Colleen Brady, Notary Public in and for the County of Monroe, State of Indiana, taken on behalf 19 of the Respondents, at Bloomington City Hall, 401 North Morton Street, Room 225, Bloomington, Monroe 20 County, Indiana, on the 27th day of February 2024, at 9:00 a.m., pursuant to the Indiana Rules of 21 Trial Procedure with written notice as to time and place thereof. 22 23 24 25 2 1 APPEARANCES 2 FOR THE PETITIONERS: 3 William J. Beggs BUNGER & ROBERTSON 4 211 South College Avenue Bloomington, IN 47404 5 812.332.9295 wjbeggs@lawbr.com 6 7 FOR THE RESPONDENTS: 8 Andrew M. McNeil 9 BOSE MCKINNEY & EVANS LLP 111 Monument Circle 10 Suite 2700 Indianapolis, IN 46204 11 317.684.5000 amcneil@boselaw.com 12 13 14 15 ALSO PRESENT: 16 Margaret Clements 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 3 1 INDEX OF EXAMINATION 2 Page 3 DIRECT EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Questions by Andrew M. McNeil 4 CROSS-EXAMINATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 5 Questions by William J. Beggs 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 4 1 INDEX OF EXHIBITS 2 Page Deposition Exhibit No.: 3 Exhibit 27 - Answers of County Residents . . . . . 5 4 Against Annexation Inc., to City of Bloomington's First Set 5 of Request for Admissions 6 Exhibit 28 - Amended and Supplemented . . . . . . . 5 Answers of County Residents 7 Against Annexation Inc. to City of Bloomington's 8 Interrogatories 9 Exhibit 29 - Monroe County property . . . . . . . .20 information document, 10 Bloomington_199178-185 11 Exhibit 30 - Monroe County Low TaxInfo . . . . . .20 document, 12 Bloomington_199175-177 13 Exhibit 31 - Answers of Richard Peach to . . . . .26 City of Bloomington First Set 14 of Requests for Admissions 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5 1 (Exhibits 27 and 28 marked.) 2 (Time noted: 9:00 a.m.) 3 RICHARD PEACH, 4 having been duly sworn to tell the truth, the whole 5 truth, and nothing but the truth relating to said 6 matter, was examined and testified as follows: 7 8 DIRECT EXAMINATION, 9 QUESTIONS BY ANDREW M. MCNEIL: 10 Q Will you state your name for the record please? 11 A Richard Peach. 12 Q Mr. Peach, my name is Andrew McNeil. I'm one of 13 the attorneys for the City of Bloomington. If 14 you can't hear me or I need to speak up, will 15 you let me know? 16 A Sure. 17 Q If you don't understand my question or need me 18 to rephrase it, will you let me know that too? 19 A Sure. 20 Q Our court reporter is making a transcript. I 21 think you've been deposed before. I think 22 that's where we met the first time a couple of 23 years ago. 24 A Right. 25 Q As she is making a transcript of what's said on 6 1 the record, I need to let finish your answer 2 before I start my next question, and just ask 3 that you let me finish my question before you 4 answer it, even if you know what the question is 5 going to be. Does that make sense? 6 A Okay. 7 Q The goal here is to get in and out in about 45 8 minutes. Even with that being said, if you need 9 to take a break for some reason, just let me 10 know and we can go off the record. Okay? 11 A Okay. 12 Q All right. What's your address? 13 A 1440 West Estate Drive. 14 Q Is that -- 15 A Bloomington, Indiana. 16 Q Sorry. What is the zip code? 17 A 47403. 18 Q Is that in one of the annexation areas? 19 A Yes. 20 Q Which one? 21 A 1B. 22 Q How long have you lived there? 23 A Since April 2019. 24 Q Were you aware that Bloomington had initiated 25 annexation proceeding in 2017 at the time you 7 1 bought your house in 2019? 2 A No. 3 Q When did you learn of or become aware of the 4 annexation proceedings? 5 A Well, I think things started to ramp up, maybe, 6 in 2021. And I think it was the fall of 2021 7 that we first met and were talking about 8 remonstrances. And I think those were due by 9 January 2022. 10 Q So sometime in that 2021 time period? 11 A Right. There was a big meeting out at the fair 12 grounds that I went to, and I learned a lot at 13 that. That was in the summer of '21. 14 Q Did you sign one of the remonstrance petitions 15 in the fall to winter of 2021? 16 A Oh, yes. 17 Q Is there a mortgage on your property? 18 A No. 19 Q Do you have any current plans to move? 20 A No. 21 Q Where do you work? 22 A I'm retired. 23 Q Where did you retire from? 24 A I'm a retired optometrist. 25 Q Where did you work before you retired? 8 1 A Munster, Indiana. 2 Q Who lives at 1440 West Estate Drive with you? 3 A My wife Mary and myself. 4 Q Your wife Mary, does she work? 5 A No, she's retired. 6 Q Do you ever eat at restaurants in the City of 7 Bloomington within the city limits? 8 A Occasionally. Not downtown so much. We try to 9 avoid downtown because of the traffic. But out 10 on the outskirts, I'm not even sure where the 11 city limits start and stop. But, yeah, we do. 12 MR. MCNEIL: Let's go off the record for a 13 second. 14 (Off the record.) 15 BY MR. MCNEIL 16 Q Do you ever shop within the City of Bloomington, 17 whether it's groceries or anything else? 18 A Rarely I'd say. Most of our groceries we get at 19 Kroger on the south side or Walmart on the west 20 side. 21 Q Do you ever use the city parks in Bloomington? 22 A Once again, rarely. If we do it would be 23 Switchyard Park. But maybe a couple of times a 24 year. 25 Q Do you attend any civic events, plays or 9 1 concerts? Or anything like that? 2 A IU or Bloomington? 3 Q Within the City of Bloomington, which includes 4 Indiana University. 5 A Not in the last couple of years we haven't. 6 Q Do you attend events at IU? 7 A Woman's basketball games. 8 Q How often do you attend those? 9 A We got season tickets; so we basically go to all 10 of them. 11 Q Are you willing to pay fees for going into the 12 City of Bloomington to use its roads? 13 A I sure don't want to. 14 Q If the -- 15 MR. BEGGS: Excuse me, counsel, I want to 16 object to the form. Do you mean in addition to 17 the tax he already pays? 18 MR. MCNEIL: Yeah, like a toll. Yeah. 19 MR. BEGGS: In addition to what he already 20 pays to drive into the City of Bloomington 21 through his gas tax? 22 MR. MCNEIL: Right. 23 MR. BEGGS: Okay. Sorry. 24 BY MR. MCNEIL 25 Q Do you understand that if there's a fire at your 10 1 house, at 1440 West Estate Drive, the Monroe 2 Fire Territory would be the first responser as 3 opposed to the Bloomington City Fire Department? 4 A Yes. 5 Q If the Bloomington Fire Department is called to 6 put out a fire at your house, are you willing to 7 pay a fee to the fire department for that 8 service? 9 MR. BEGGS: Again, same objection to form. 10 Do you mean in addition to what he pays through 11 his property tax already? 12 MR. MCNEIL: Well, he doesn't pay any 13 property tax to the Bloomington Fire Department. 14 MR. BEGGS: No, he doesn't. But if the 15 city were to prevail he would. 16 BY MR. MCNEIL 17 Q My question is based on as things are right now, 18 if the City of Bloomington Fire Department is 19 called upon to put out a fire at your house, are 20 you willing to pay a fee for that service? 21 A I can't imagine why that would happen. I'm not 22 asking you a question, but it would seem to me 23 like the Monroe County Fire Department would 24 come to my house not Bloomington. 25 Q You remember that fire in highlands about three 11 1 years ago? 2 A Yes. 3 Q Do you understand that the Bloomington Fire 4 Department was called upon to be primary? 5 A I didn't know that. 6 Q So you understand that, for example, if you are 7 transports by an ambulance, the ambulance 8 company bills you or your insurance for that 9 service? 10 A Right. 11 Q So I'm asking a similar question about the 12 Bloomington Fire Department. If they are called 13 upon to put out a fire at your house, annexation 14 Area 1B, would you be willing to pay a fee for 15 that service? 16 MR. BEGGS: Object to formant to the extent 17 you're asking the witness to speculate as to the 18 answer to that question. You may answer. 19 A I mean, I don't want my house to burn down. 20 Q Sure. 21 A So I would pay anyone anything to get fire 22 protection in that instance. 23 Q Are you on city water and sewer service? 24 A Yes. 25 Q Would you be agreeable to disconnecting from the 12 1 city water and sewer service if the annexation 2 does not occur? 3 MR. BEGGS: Same object to form. 4 Speculation. You may answer. 5 A I guess I would want to see what my options 6 were. I can't imagine the city disconnecting 7 our sewers if we weren't annexed. 8 Q You understand that one of the reasons why Area 9 1B is even in a remonstrance appeal is because 10 the general assembly voided remonstrance waivers 11 in exchange for sewer service agreements; 12 correct? 13 A Right. 14 Q Do you believe it's in your best interest to 15 continue receiving city sewer and water 16 services? 17 A Well, yeah. I would hate to switch away from 18 that. 19 Q So have you ever thought about or made a plan 20 for sewer or water services in the event you're 21 disconnected from the city utilities? 22 A I've never thought about it. 23 Q You mentioned a group meeting out at the 24 fairgrounds in 2021. Do you know what County 25 Residents Against Annexation is? 13 1 A Sure. 2 Q What do you understand it to be? 3 A It's -- it fights annexation. 4 Q Do you understand it's organized as 501(c)(3)? 5 A Yes. 6 Q Did you have any role in setting it up as a 7 501(c)(3)? 8 A No. I'm not on the board of directors, if 9 that's what you're asking. 10 Q It wasn't, but that was actually a related 11 question, whether you've ever been on the board 12 or served as an officer in that organization? 13 A I'm on the board of advisors, but not the board 14 of directors. 15 Q What is the board of advisors? 16 A We attend the meetings, but the advisors can 17 leave before the board of directors would meet. 18 Q How long have you been on the board of advisors? 19 A Pretty much ever since it started. 20 Q Who else is on board of advisors with you? 21 A You know, I'm not -- I'm not really sure which 22 people are on -- advisors and which are 23 directors. 24 Q Do you know how many directors are on the board 25 of directors, just a head count? 14 1 A I would guess six to eight, but I'm not sure. 2 Q Do you know how many advisors are on the board 3 of advisors? 4 A I would guess four or five, maybe, but I'm not 5 sure. 6 Q You ever donate to County Residents Against 7 Annexation? 8 A Yes. 9 Q How often? 10 A Couple of times a year. 11 Q How much on an annual basis? 12 MR. BEGGS: Object to the form. And 13 relevance. Is there something about that that's 14 relevant to the issue before the court, counsel? 15 MR. MCNEIL: Yeah, I don't have to -- I 16 don't have to answer that. You can object. He 17 can answer, and then we can take it up later. 18 MR. BEGGS: Or he cannot answer. And we 19 can save a lot of time and another hearing if 20 you can just explain how that question, that 21 information is relevant. Then we may not -- 22 MR. MCNEIL: I mean, a significant 23 financial impact is an issue in the case, and 24 there's different ways to consider the impact, 25 particularly, from property tax analysis. And 15 1 whether he's spending money to fight annexation 2 that he could otherwise pay on his property 3 taxes goes to significant financial impact. You 4 can disagree with me, but that's the relevance. 5 MR. BEGGS: Okay. 6 THE WITNESS: So you're still asking me 7 that question? 8 BY MR. MCNEIL 9 Q Yes, on an annual basis -- 10 A Last year I think I donated $750. 11 Q 7 -- that would be 20 -- 12 A 750. 13 Q -- for 2023? 14 A Yes. 15 Q Approximately? 16 A Yes. I think that's what I donated. 17 Q I understand that CRAA is not a member 18 organization. You don't have membership in it. 19 Is that your understanding as well? 20 A That's my understanding. 21 Q Have you communicated, either in email or text 22 messages, with other people about the 23 annexation? 24 A Sure. 25 Q Have you looked for emails or text messages that 16 1 you've sent or received about the annexation as 2 part of this case? 3 A Yes. 4 Q What did you do to look for those? 5 A I did searches in my email and in my text 6 messages. 7 Q Did you find any emails or text messages in 8 those searches? 9 A Yes, I think I submitted all that. 10 Q To your counsel, or to Margaret Clements? 11 A Yeah. I don't know if it was Margaret or Bill. 12 Q Are you still opposed to the annexation? 13 A Yes. 14 Q Why? 15 A Because my taxes are going to go up, and I don't 16 see where I'm going to get any benefit from it. 17 Q We'll drill down on that in a second. But first 18 I want to ask you, any other reasons for your 19 opposition? 20 Or is that the primary or the only? 21 A Well, I don't -- that's the main thing, is the 22 money. But if I had known that my taxes were 23 going to go up over $1,000 a year when I was 24 thinking about buying my house, I might have had 25 second thoughts doing it. 17 1 Q Did you relocate to Monroe County from Munster? 2 A Yeah -- actually, our residence was in Highland, 3 Indiana. 4 Q In Highland? 5 A I worked in Munster, but we lived in Highland. 6 Q And then when you retired, you moved to Monroe 7 County? 8 A Right. 9 Q Have you done a calculation of what the tax -- 10 property tax impact would be if the annexation 11 is approved or finalized? 12 A You mean, how much would be? 13 Q Yeah. Any kind of analysis of what your 14 property taxes would be if you were -- 15 A I think -- I think I was told around $1,400 more 16 a year. 17 Q Who told you that? 18 A I think that was Rita Barrow. 19 Q Rita Barrow? 20 A Yeah. And that was -- that was a couple of 21 years ago, when this all got started. 22 Q And did Ms. Barrow say that directly to you? Or 23 was that in a meeting where she said, generally, 24 to -- 25 A No, that was directly to me. I think I called 18 1 her on the phone and she told me. 2 Q Do you know how she calculated that increase? 3 A No. 4 Q Have you done anything yourself to compute what 5 the increase would be? 6 A No. 7 Q Do you have a homestead exemption on your 8 property? 9 A Yeah. 10 Q And you said no mortgage. So there's no 11 mortgage exemption; right? 12 A Correct. 13 Q Are you over 65? 14 A Yes. 15 Q Do you have the over 65 exemption? 16 A Probably, I don't know. You know, I'm not sure. 17 Q Have you done any analysis to determine whether 18 the annexation would cost you any money other 19 than the increase in the property tax? 20 MR. BEGGS: Would you please repeat the 21 question, counsel? 22 Q Sure. Have you done any analysis -- this is 23 roughly it. 24 Have you done any analysis to determine 25 whether the annexation will cost you any money 19 1 other than the property tax increase? 2 A I haven't done any study on that, but I can't 3 imagine what other impact there would be. 4 Q You understand that if the annexation goes 5 forward, your utility -- your water, sewer bills 6 could go down? 7 A No, I don't know about that. 8 Q Do you understand that there's a different rate 9 for sewer service for people outside of the city 10 limits than there is for people inside of the 11 city limits? 12 A Yeah, I think I have heard that. 13 Q But you haven't done any analysis to see what 14 that cost savings would be? 15 A No. 16 Q Do you have any understanding of whether your 17 homeowner's insurance premium would be impact by 18 annexation, either up or down? 19 A I don't know. 20 Q Do you know how the Bloomington municipal tax 21 rate, property tax rate, compares to other 22 cities in Indiana? 23 A No. 24 MR. MCNEIL: I'm going to hand you some 25 exhibits. Just, Bill, so you're aware, we had 20 1 done the landowner exhibits before and 2 consecutively numbered. So I'm going to pick up 3 where we left off. 4 So the first new exhibit today will be 27. 5 And I've already premarked those. So these are 6 going to be 29 and 30. 7 (Exhibits 29 and 30 marked.) 8 Q Mr. Peach, you have Exhibit 29 and 30 in front 9 of you now. Is that correct? 10 A That's correct. 11 Q Have you seen these before today? 12 A Well, I have seen Zillow before today. 13 Q I can tell you that Exhibit 29 came from the 14 Monroe County Elevate, assessor property search 15 tool; and Exhibit 30 came from the Monroe County 16 LOW Tax, property tax search tool. 17 MR. BEGGS: Counsel, before we get started, 18 I assume this is going to be true of the other 19 depositions today. 20 Will you please identify who prepared this? 21 'Cause this doesn't -- this has similarities to 22 what you just represented, but it doesn't look 23 like what you just represented, that I'm in 24 every day. So can you please let us know who 25 prepared this and how they did so and when? 21 1 MR. MCNEIL: I did. So if you look at the 2 electronic version that you received in the 3 production and go to properties, you'll see that 4 the author is A.M.N., which is Andrew McNeil. 5 And it was through the Monroe County elevate 6 site and the Monroe County low tax site 7 searching by each landowner's property address 8 and/or name. 9 MR. BEGGS: And you prepared them when 10 please? 11 MR. MCNEIL: Whatever the date is on 12 metadata properties. Sometime in the last seven 13 days, I believe. Last week. 14 MR. BEGGS: 29 and 30 were prepared in the 15 last week? 16 MR. MCNEIL: They were, yes. Whatever the 17 metadata shows you on the document we provided 18 in discovery shows when they were created. It's 19 February 2024. The specific date will show in 20 the document properties. 21 MR. BEGGS: I'll show an objection that if 22 they were just prepared in the last seven days, 23 we object to their use in the deposition. 24 MR. MCNEIL: What's the basis of the 25 objection? 22 1 MR. BEGGS: You're too late. Are they 2 exhibits for the deposition today? 3 MR. MCNEIL: Yeah. 4 MR. BEGGS: You expect to have him testify 5 about them? 6 MR. MCNEIL: We produced them to you last 7 week. 8 MR. BEGGS: You produced them last night 9 at -- 10 MR. MCNEIL: No, no. 11 MR. BEGGS: -- 5:00 or so. 12 MR. MCNEIL: We produced them Friday. 13 MR. BEGGS: Well, I saw them last night. 14 MR. MCNEIL: That's not my problem. 15 MR. BEGGS: No, it's not. That's true. 16 But you're still too late. So we'll show that 17 objection. 18 MR. MCNEIL: That's fine. It's a 19 supplementation of our discovery, which we're 20 permitted to do under Rule 26(E) or (G), in 21 fact, we're required for supplemental discovery. 22 BY MR. MCNEIL 23 Q So Exhibit 29, Mr. Peach, if you would look on 24 the bottom right-hand corner, there's page 25 numbers. Bloomington_ -- I'm going to go by the 23 1 last three numbers. So if you look at 180. 2 Page 180. 3 You have that page, sir? 4 A Uh-huh. 5 Q You see the transfer of ownership information, 6 4/16/2019, Richard and Mary Peach. Is that when 7 you purchased your home? 8 A That's correct. 9 Q Does that sale price look accurate to you: 10 $361,900? 11 A Sounds right. 12 Q If you look at the valuation record, do you see 13 the entry for April 8, 2022? 14 It's the second one from the top. Do you 15 see that one? 16 A Okay. April 8th of 2022, annual adjustment? 17 Q Yes. 18 A Yes, I see that. 19 Q You see the total valuation is $469,400? 20 A Right. 21 Q Do you understand if you were up against the 22 property tax cap circuit breaker, the most you 23 could pay in property taxes is $4,694 at 24 1 percent of the assessed value for 2022, pay 25 2023? 24 1 MR. BEGGS: You're talking about -- 2 counsel, does the question -- object to the 3 form. 4 Are you talking about not including those 5 items that are not covered by the circuit 6 breaker, such as two different school fees we'll 7 pay in the county and others? 8 MR. MCNEIL: Yeah. I'm asking his 9 understanding, if that would be the case. 10 A This is hard for me to understand. I don't 11 understand all this. 12 Q If you look at Exhibit 30, if you turn to 13 page 176. Do you see the tax history section at 14 the bottom of that page? 15 A Yes. 16 Q Then for 2023, you see the total payments were 17 $3,955.40? 18 A Yes. 19 Q Is that the amount you paid in property tax in 20 calendar year 2023? 21 A Yeah, that sounds right. I remember the spring 22 and fall months better than the total amount. 23 But, yeah, that should be right. 24 Q If you bought your house in April of 2019, did 25 you -- you paid property taxes in 2020 at that 25 1 residence; correct? 2 A I'm sure we did. 3 Q Do you understand that what you paid in 2020 was 4 based on the assessed value in 2019? 5 A Right. 6 Q If you look at 176 of Exhibit 30, you see that 7 the total property tax payments in 2019 were 8 $1,658.82? 9 A Yes. 10 Q And the total payment was -- for 2023 was what 11 we said earlier, $3,955.40. 12 A Yes. 13 Q Do you understand that to be about 125 percent 14 increase? 15 A Yeah, it's a big increase. 16 Q But you paid your taxes each year as required? 17 A Didn't have a choice. 18 MR. MCNEIL: I'm going to give you 19 Exhibit 27 and Exhibit 31. Bill, that's 27. 20 And then this will be, Bill, 31. Sorry about 21 that. 22 MR. BEGGS: Thank you. That's all right. 23 You said 31? 24 MR. MCNEIL: Yes. 25 26 1 (Exhibit 31 marked.) 2 Q Mr. Peach, let's set the record here. Do you 3 have Exhibit 27 in front of you? 4 A 27? 5 Q Yes. 6 A Yes. 7 Q Does the tile of that say "Answers of County 8 Residents Against Annexation Inc., to City of 9 Bloomington's first set of requests for 10 admissions"? 11 A Oh, down here. Yeah. 12 Q Yes. 13 A Yes. 14 Q I just want to confirm for the record that's 15 what you're looking at? 16 A Yes. 17 Q If you look at Exhibit 31, the title of that is 18 "Answers of Richard Peach to City of 19 Bloomington's first set of requests for 20 admissions." Do you see that? 21 A Yes. 22 Q If you look at Exhibit 31, starting there on 23 page 3, there's a section near the bottom third 24 of the page that says "Request for admissions," 25 in bold. Do you see that? 27 1 A Yes. 2 Q And there's five requests for admissions that 3 start on page 3 and continue to page four. Do 4 you see that? 5 A Yes. 6 Q Do you see that the answer for all five of those 7 requests for admissions is "See response of 8 County Residents Against Annexation Inc., served 9 on or about August 4, 2023"? 10 A I see that. 11 Q Now let's look at Exhibit 27. And starting on 12 page 3 carrying over to page 4. Do you see the 13 same five requests for admissions that were on 14 Exhibit 31? 15 A Yes. 16 Q So looking at Number 2 on page 3, just read that 17 to yourself and let me know when you're 18 finished. 19 Have you finished reading it? 20 A I read Number 2. 21 Q So the answer is "Deny"; correct? 22 A Yes. 23 Q Do you have any facts or information to support 24 the denial of that request? 25 A You know, boy, this is going back. I just -- I 28 1 sort of remember this, but I don't remember 2 really. 3 Q Did you ever review the city's fiscal plan 4 version 5.0 adopted in 2021? 5 A I don't remember if I did or not. 6 Q Look at Number 3 on page 4, if you would, 7 please. Read that to yourself and let me know 8 when you finish. 9 A Yeah. 10 Q Do you have any information to support the 11 denial of that request? 12 A I just don't remember. 13 Q Same questions for Number 4, once you've had a 14 chance to read that. 15 A Okay. 16 Q Any information to support the denial of that 17 request? 18 A I just don't remember the situation. 19 Q And then Number 5, if you would read -- well, 20 let's stop at 4 first. For 2, 3, and 4, you 21 testified in part that you don't remember. Is 22 there anything you could look at that would 23 refresh your recollection about the issues 24 identified in Request 2, 3, and 4? 25 A I'd have to study the papers from back then. 29 1 This was -- this was probably at least a year 2 ago when we did this. 3 Q Yeah. I think the date on Exhibit 27, if you 4 look on the very last page, August 4 of 2023. 5 About six months ago. 6 But granted, it was a while back and things 7 have happened since then. But is there anything 8 specific that you personally would look at to 9 refresh your recollection on Items 2, 3, and 4 10 in the request for admissions? 11 A I would just have to go back to the papers from 12 six months ago, whatever, and is study them 13 again. 14 Q What papers are those? 15 A Well, when we -- when I denied this. 16 Q Now in fairness, your answer is see the County 17 Residents Against Annexation, Inc.'s, answers; 18 right? 19 A Okay. Yeah. 20 Q So do you remember looking at papers or 21 documents? 22 A I remember looking at it, but once again, it was 23 a long time ago. 24 Q When you say "looking at it," were you looking 25 at Exhibit 31 or the requests in 31? Or were 30 1 you looking at documents from the annexation 2 process itself? That's what -- I'm just trying 3 to understand what you mean when you say -- 4 A I read what CRAA had said about it. 5 Q Okay. 6 A And agreed with what they said. But I don't 7 remember what they said. 8 Q Sure. No, that's fine. I just wanted to 9 understand what your source would be, and it 10 sounds like it was materials created and shared 11 by CRAA. 12 A Right. 13 Q Do you know whether -- let me rephrase it this 14 way, and I'm going to read this question because 15 the wording is precise and I want to get it 16 right. 17 "Do you have any information to suggest 18 that the fiscal plan does not represent a 19 credible commitment by the city to provide 20 non-capital services to Area 1B in a manner 21 equivalent in standard and scope to those 22 non-capital services provided to areas within 23 the corporate boundaries within one year after 24 the effective date of the annexation?" 25 A Can you rephrase that? 31 1 Q So you understand that in the fiscal plan or in 2 an annexation, a municipality is required to 3 provide non-capital services -- like police, 4 fire, sidewalks, city lights; I think those are 5 the non-capital services -- on the same manner 6 and in same terms that they apply within the 7 corporate boundaries within a year of the 8 annexation. 9 Do you understand that to be true? 10 A Only because you just told me that. 11 Q Had you heard that before? 12 A I didn't know it was a requirement. I had heard 13 there. I had heard that there were promises 14 made but I didn't know promises were required to 15 be kept. 16 Q Okay. So I'll use your language. Do you have 17 any information to suggest that the City of 18 Bloomington would not keep the promises it made 19 to landowners in Area 1B? 20 A Well, I heard that when they did annexation or 21 annexations on the north side of town, north of 22 the football stadium, that promises were made 23 for lighting and sidewalks and stuff like that 24 that weren't kept. 25 Q And who told you that? 32 1 A I don't remember. It's just I had heard that. 2 Is that not true -- well, I'm sorry. I don't 3 want to ask you. 4 Q That's okay. When did you hear that? 5 A Oh, over a year ago. Maybe two years ago. 6 Q To the best of your recollection, can you 7 identify the potential source of that statement 8 whether it was a township trustee or somebody at 9 CRAA or just a neighbor or somebody at the city? 10 A It wasn't a neighbor. It wasn't someone with 11 the city. It could have been somebody in CRAA. 12 Q And sitting here today, that's your best 13 recollection of it? 14 A Right. 15 Q And the same question with respect to capital 16 services, roads and infrastructure: are you 17 aware of any promises the city made with respect 18 to capital services being provided within three 19 years of annexation that the city is not going 20 to keep those promises? 21 MR. BEGGS: Hold on. Is the question 22 you're asking him if the city won't do what it's 23 supposed to do three years from now? 24 MR. MCNEIL: If he has any information to 25 suggest, support whether that's true or not? 33 1 MR. BEGGS: Well, yeah. Object to the 2 form. 3 BY MR. MCNEIL 4 Q That's fine. Let me -- for the record, let me 5 read the question and then we can go from there. 6 "Do you have any information to suggest 7 that the fiscal plan does not represent a 8 credible commitment by the city to provide 9 capital services to Area 1B in a manner 10 equivalent in standard and scope to those 11 capital services provided to areas within the 12 corporate boundaries within three years after 13 the effective date of the annexation?" 14 A I don't have any information. But the other 15 thing I think of is what if we don't want what 16 you're offering? I mean, what if we don't want 17 street lights? What if we don't want some of 18 these capital improvements? 19 I don't really want a street light pole in 20 my front park way. I mean, we have everything 21 we need. We're happy the way we are. 22 Q Are you finished with your answer? 23 A Yes. 24 Q Do you have any information to suggest that the 25 fiscal plan does not comply with the 34 1 requirements of the Indiana Code? 2 A I don't know enough about the Indiana Code to 3 say. 4 Q Do you have any information on the population 5 density persons per acre in Areas 1A or 1B? 6 A No, I don't. No, I don't have that information. 7 Q Do you have any information on percentage by 8 acreage of Areas 1A or 1B that are subdivided? 9 A I mean, I feel like I've seen some of those 10 numbers but I don't recall them. 11 Q Did you create any of those numbers yourself? 12 A No. 13 Q I'm going to give you Exhibit 28. This is the 14 last exhibit I have for you. 15 Mr. Peach, Exhibit 28 is the "Amended and 16 Supplemented Answers of County Residents Against 17 Annexation to the City of Bloomington's 18 Interrogatories." Do you see that on the first 19 page? 20 A Yes. 21 Q If you would turn to page -- I believe it's 11. 22 Yes. Page 11, Interrogatory Number 12. Do you 23 have that page, sir? 24 A Yes. You said 12 or 11? 25 Q Page 11. Question 12. 35 1 A Okay. Yes. 2 Q Says "Identify and list all facts and documents 3 supporting your contention in the petition that 4 the annexation will have a significant financial 5 impact upon the residents and/or owners of land 6 in the annexation territory and identify each 7 witness you intend to call to testify in support 8 of your contention." 9 Did I read that correctly? You have to 10 answer out loud. 11 A Yes. 12 Q Thank you. If you go to the next page on 13 page 12, there's a supplement answer in bold 14 typeface. Do you see that? 15 A Yes. 16 Q The last -- sorry, the first paragraph to the 17 supplement answer says "If called to testify, 18 the following individuals may be asked to 19 testify about the significant economic impacts 20 of annexation upon Areas 1A and 1B." And if you 21 skim down to the end of the second to last line, 22 carry over to the last name in that paragraph, 23 do you see your name there, "Richard Peach"? 24 A Yes. 25 Q What do you perceive to be the significant 36 1 economic impacts of the annexation to you other 2 than the property tax issue that we talked 3 about? 4 A So if we were annexed, other than increased 5 taxes, what don't I like? 6 Q No, not exactly. What would the significant 7 economic impact be to you -- 8 A Oh, it has to be economic? 9 Q Yes -- 10 MR. BEGGS: And just I want to make sure, 11 counsel, this is confusing. You're asking him 12 to answer a question that's different than 13 Number 12? 14 MR. MCNEIL: I'm asking him to answer the 15 question that I've asked him. 16 MR. BEGGS: Well, right but you had him 17 read 12, and then you asked him a different 18 question. So I just want to make sure the 19 record is clear on what he's being asked. 20 MR. MCNEIL: I'm not asking him a 21 different -- I'm not going to argue with you 22 about my questions, Bill, the question is -- 23 MR. BEGGS: Well, Andy, if you read 12, it 24 differs from your question. 25 MR. MCNEIL: I don't agree. I'm using the 37 1 language of the answer from my question. 2 BY MR. MCNEIL 3 Q So, Mr. Peach, the question is other than the 4 property tax, if the annexation moves forward, 5 what significant economic impacts would there be 6 to you? 7 A Well, if the city cut off our sewers and water, 8 I might have to figure out a solution to that 9 problem. 10 I would hate to see higher density 11 residential areas going up close to my 12 neighborhood; it seems like there's been a lot 13 of apartments and condos going up within 14 Bloomington, and I kind of like the wide open 15 spaces that we live in. 16 Q Any other significant economic impacts to you 17 other than what you've described and the 18 property tax issue you talked about earlier? 19 A Well, I mean, we talked about police and fire 20 protection, but that's not really what you're 21 asking I don't think. 22 Q No -- 23 A I'm concerned about police protection, but I 24 don't think that's what you're asking. 25 Q Not in this question but I'll ask you about that 38 1 next. 2 So just to make sure we've closed out this 3 line, are there any other significant economic 4 or financial impacts to you from the annexation 5 in your perspective that we have not talked 6 about? 7 A I can't think of any. 8 Q What is your concern about police protection? 9 A My understanding is that Bloomington already has 10 a shortage of police officers. So if they 11 expand their territory that they have to cover, 12 what are they going to do about providing 13 adequate police protection? 14 Q What is your understanding of Bloomington's 15 police staffing based on? 16 A I have heard that from police officers both in 17 the county and in the city. 18 Q Do you know how many officers or deputies the 19 county's sheriff's department has? 20 A No. 21 Q Do you know whether the county sheriff's office 22 has a perceived staffing shortage? 23 A I don't know about the county having a staffing 24 shortage. All I really heard of is city. 25 Q Do you know how many road miles the county 39 1 sheriff's department has to -- is responsible 2 for? 3 A It has to be a lot more -- well, the city is 4 more dense with roads. So I don't know. If 5 you're counting road miles, the city might have 6 more road miles. 7 Q Is that supposition on your part speculation? 8 A Speculation. 9 Q Have you done any study to compare the county 10 road miles to city road miles? 11 A No. 12 Q Are you aware of response time comparisons for 13 similar categories -- 14 A No. 15 Q -- of information between the county sheriff's 16 department and the City of Bloomington Police 17 Department? 18 A I'm not aware. 19 Q You mentioned fire protection: do you 20 understand that if the annexation goes forward, 21 your property would remain within the fire 22 district responsibility? 23 A Yeah, but wouldn't we also -- I'm not asking you 24 a question. I understand that if we were paying 25 city taxes, then, we would be paying for fire 40 1 protection in city taxes and also in the 2 district. 3 Q What is that understanding based on? 4 A I just heard that. 5 Q Is there anything else about your opposition to 6 the annexation that you would testify to at 7 trial that we haven't talked about here? 8 MR. BEGGS: Object to the form. You may 9 answer. 10 A I just -- I don't see where the city has 11 anything to offer me for $1,000 more a year to 12 make it worth it to me to be annexed. You know, 13 you talk about trash pickup, my trash pickup 14 with Rumpke's $46 every two months. And my 15 understanding is that the city charges something 16 with the water bill for trash pickup. So that's 17 not really a selling point, no. 18 Q Anything else? 19 A There's nothing else that I would bring up at 20 the trial that I can think of. 21 MR. MCNEIL: Those are all the questions I 22 have for you. Thank you, Mr. Peach. 23 CROSS-EXAMINATION, 24 QUESTIONS BY WILLIAM J. BEGGS: 25 Q Richard, before today, has any City of 41 1 Bloomington representative whether elected, 2 appointed, employed, attorney, or otherwise 3 suggested to you that if annexation does not go 4 forward, the city will cut off the water and 5 sewer service to your house? 6 A I've never heard that. 7 Q Before today, has anybody in that same group I 8 had just asked about suggested to you that the 9 City of Bloomington would somehow install toll 10 roads on the streets -- 11 A No. 12 Q -- between your home and the city limits? 13 A No. 14 MR. BEGGS: No further questions. Thank 15 you, sir. 16 MR. MCNEIL: I have no followup on that. 17 (Time noted: 9:48 a.m.) 18 AND FURTHER THE DEPONENT SAITH NOT. 19 20 21 ____________________ 22 RICHARD PEACH 23 24 25 42 1 STATE OF INDIANA ) ) SS: 2 COUNTY OF MONROE ) 3 I, Colleen Brady, a Notary Public in and for 4 the County of Monroe, State of Indiana at large, do 5 hereby certify that RICHARD PEACH, the deponent 6 herein, was by me first duly sworn to tell the 7 truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth 8 in the aforementioned matter; 9 That the foregoing deposition was taken on 10 behalf of the Respondents, at the offices of 11 Bloomington City Hall, 401 North Morton Street, 12 Room 225, Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, on 13 the 27th day of February 2024, commencing at the 14 hour of 9:00 a.m., pursuant to the Indiana Rules of 15 Trial Procedure; 16 That said deposition was taken down 17 stenographically and transcribed under my 18 direction, and that the typewritten transcript is a 19 true record of the testimony given by the said 20 deponent; and thereafter presented to said deponent 21 for his signature; 22 That the parties were represented by their 23 counsel as aforementioned. 24 I do further certify that I am a disinterested 25 person in this cause of action; that I am not a 43 1 relative or attorney of any party, or otherwise 2 interested in the event of this action, and am not 3 in the employ of the attorneys for any party. 4 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my 5 hand and affixed my notarial seal on this 15th 6 day of March 2024. 7 8 9 <%25563,Signature%> Colleen Brady 10 11 12 Seal, Notary Public My Commission Expires: State of Indiana March 8, 2029 13 Colleen Brady County of Residence: 14 Commission No. NP0732235 Monroe 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Veritext Legal Solutions 1100 Superior Ave Suite 1820 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Phone: 216-523-1313 March 15, 2024 To: Mr. Beggs Case Name: County Residents Against Annexation Et Al v. The Common Council of the City Of Bloomington Et Al Veritext Reference Number: 6465804 Witness: Richard Peach Deposition Date: 2/27/2024 Dear Sir/Madam: The deposition transcript taken in the above-referenced matter, with the reading and signing having not been expressly waived, has been completed and is available for review and signature. Please call our office to make arrangements for a convenient location to accomplish this or if you prefer a certified transcript can be purchased. If the errata is not returned within thirty days of your receipt of this letter, the reading and signing will be deemed waived. Sincerely, Production Department NO NOTARY REQUIRED IN CA 1 DEPOSITION REVIEW CERTIFICATION OF WITNESS 2 ASSIGNMENT REFERENCE NO: 6465804 3 CASE NAME: County Residents Against Annexation Et Al v. The Common Council of the City Of Bloomington Et Al DATE OF DEPOSITION: 2/27/2024 4 WITNESS' NAME: Richard Peach 5 In accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure, I have read the entire transcript of 6 my testimony or it has been read to me. 7 I have made no changes to the testimony as transcribed by the court reporter. 8 _______________ ________________________ 9 Date Richard Peach 10 Sworn to and subscribed before me, a Notary Public in and for the State and County, 11 the referenced witness did personally appear and acknowledge that: 12 They have read the transcript; 13 They signed the foregoing Sworn Statement; and 14 Their execution of this Statement is of their free act and deed. 15 I have affixed my name and official seal 16 this ______ day of_____________________, 20____. 17 ___________________________________ 18 Notary Public 19 ___________________________________ Commission Expiration Date 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 DEPOSITION REVIEW CERTIFICATION OF WITNESS 2 ASSIGNMENT REFERENCE NO: 6465804 3 CASE NAME: County Residents Against Annexation Et Al v. The Common Council of the City Of Bloomington Et Al DATE OF DEPOSITION: 2/27/2024 4 WITNESS' NAME: Richard Peach 5 In accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure, I have read the entire transcript of 6 my testimony or it has been read to me. 7 I have listed my changes on the attached Errata Sheet, listing page and line numbers as 8 well as the reason(s) for the change(s). 9 I request that these changes be entered as part of the record of my testimony. 10 I have executed the Errata Sheet, as well 11 as this Certificate, and request and authorize that both be appended to the transcript of my 12 testimony and be incorporated therein. 13 _______________ ________________________ Date Richard Peach 14 Sworn to and subscribed before me, a 15 Notary Public in and for the State and County, the referenced witness did personally appear 16 and acknowledge that: 17 They have read the transcript; They have listed all of their corrections 18 in the appended Errata Sheet; They signed the foregoing Sworn 19 Statement; and Their execution of this Statement is of 20 their free act and deed. 21 I have affixed my name and official seal 22 this ______ day of_____________________, 20____. 23 ___________________________________ Notary Public 24 ___________________________________ 25 Commission Expiration Date 1 ERRATA SHEET VERITEXT LEGAL SOLUTIONS MIDWEST 2 ASSIGNMENT NO: 2/27/2024 3 PAGE/LINE(S) / CHANGE /REASON 4 ___________________________________________________ 5 ___________________________________________________ 6 ___________________________________________________ 7 ___________________________________________________ 8 ___________________________________________________ 9 ___________________________________________________ 10 ___________________________________________________ 11 ___________________________________________________ 12 ___________________________________________________ 13 ___________________________________________________ 14 ___________________________________________________ 15 ___________________________________________________ 16 ___________________________________________________ 17 ___________________________________________________ 18 ___________________________________________________ 19 _______________ ________________________ 20 Date Richard Peach 21 SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME THIS ________ 22 DAY OF ________________________, 20______ . 23 ___________________________________ Notary Public 24 ___________________________________ 25 Commission Expiration Date