Employees terminated at Concord Township Assessor's Office weeks after assessor resigns

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- The Concord Township Assessor's Office is now closed, after all of its county employees were terminated on Wednesday.

Elkhart County Commissioner Brad Rogers confirmed the news with ABC57. This comes a little over two weeks after assessor Christopher Dickinson suddenly announced his resignation on December 15, with no reason provided.

Elkhart County commissioners and council members say they've been searching for ways to reduce budgets to offset the impacts of Senate Enrolled Act 1, which officially took effect on Thursday. Commissioners had been working with Dickinson prior to his resignation.

At the Elkhart County Council meeting on December 18, Rogers recommended steps to save the county money. The council voted and approved one of those steps at the meeting, which was to reduce the 2026 salary of the Concord Township Assessor to the federal minimum salary of $35,568. Rogers also recommended reducing and reorganizing the office's 2026 budget to the minimum amount needed to perform day-to-day operations. He said this would lead to $300,000 in savings and include a reduction in the workforce at the assessor's office, which has since moved forward.

The reorganization is expected to be discussed by the Elkhart County Council at its January 15 meeting.