Error discovered in tax rates

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BY BOB KASARDA
bkasarda@nwitimes.com
219.548.4345 | Friday, November 14, 2008 | (7 comment(s))

VALPARAISO | One day after the state approved Porter County property tax rates, it was discovered a local homestead credit was left out of the equation.

The discovery left state and local officials scrambling Thursday to correct the error in hope of staying on track to mail out bills during the first week of December.

"It's a burp," Porter County Auditor James Kopp said of the state's error.

Kopp, who along with other county officials and consultants have been meeting weekly to get the local tax bills back on schedule, said the state error will result in about a day and a half delay. There was extra time built into the billing schedule, he said, but the county has yet to run the final figures through its new software.

"At this point, there are too many unknowns," he said about the early December target date.

"I don't want to put these things out wrong and send out a bunch of corrected bills," Kopp said.

Mary Jane Michalak, director of communications for Indiana Department of Local Government, which is responsible for the error, said her office hoped to correct the problem by Friday.

The online tax calculator at www.in.gov/dlgf/4932.htm will be corrected once the new rates are available, she said.

Kopp has said he hopes to mail out the tax bills by about Dec. 5, with payments due Dec. 22 -- in time for homeowners to deduct property taxes on income tax returns.

However, taxpayers in Beverly Shores, Pine Township and the Town of Pines -- areas served by Michigan City schools -- are at the mercy of LaPorte County officials. Kopp said taxpayers in those areas should not expect to receive final 2008 tax bills until early next year.

Indiana adopted a new real estate appraisal system last year. The overhaul has led to continued delays in preparing tax bills and prompted finger-pointing between state and local officials.

In a typical year, bills go out in April, with installment payments due in May and November. This year, Porter County property owners in June received provisional bills that estimated the first half of their annual tax liability.

Porter County hired consultants to help work through the delays and installed a new computer system. Kopp said the goal is to have 2009 bills figured out by June.

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other side of the coin wrote on Nov 14, 2008 2:51 PM:

" If property tax bills (Lake, Porter, etc) are delayed in being mailed out due to ineptness of those in charge then why do WE have to pay a penalty if we send in the payment too late? Lake county is a year late, they send the bills at the last quarter of the year and expect us to hurry & pay them (around Christmas time, yet). If we don't then we have to pay a penalty. We should be able to charge THEM a penalty for their inability to do their job. Like FIRE THE WHOLE BUNCH & FILL THE SPOTS WITH HIGHSCHOOL KIDS. "

WHAT wrote on Nov 14, 2008 11:29 AM:

" Not in Porter County! Oh, yes, because they hired out the job to consultants.
I thought all the inept elected officials and their toadies were only in Lake County. "

Porter county tax payer wrote on Nov 14, 2008 10:37 AM:

" Can't The State of Indiana Employees do anything RIGHT the first time??
Do we (as tax payers) have the right to charge a penality for emotional stress?
Or Fraud? What are The State Employees being PAID for? Aren't they supposed to be the overseers of our local government? Yet it takes our local officials to correct their work. Locals work hard to gather the information and all they had to do was take it and fill in the blanks in this "New Program"
Now WHY if we pay their wages don't we demand them to attend a class of
Tax Rates for Dummies... "

Really maybe wrote on Nov 14, 2008 9:24 AM:

" Maybe - I think you are off base. Kopp and Murphy are now trying to correct a problem that the state handed them, which is not the first time. Where were the consultants on this one? I'm not sure it was such a good expense of the taxpayers money. "

reader wrote on Nov 14, 2008 8:40 AM:

" Did you not see that this was a state error???? "

Maybe wrote on Nov 14, 2008 6:24 AM:

" This guy should concentrate on his real job instead of trying to shove a subdivision down the throat of the people of Portage that don't want it! With him and Jim Murphy in charge, will anything ever get done correctly the first time? "

Seriously wrote on Nov 14, 2008 6:19 AM:

" This is unacceptable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "

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