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BY BILL DOLAN
bdolan@nwitimes.com
219.662.5328 | Thursday, November 20, 2008 | (3 comment(s))
CROWN POINT | Lake County officials lined up Wednesday before the Board of Commissioners to renew their favorite consultants' contracts for another year.
Lake County commissioners approved $1.1 million in consultant contract renewals Wednesday, but weren't playing Santa Claus to everyone.
They rejected a request to pay Merrillville attorney Dock McDowell Jr. up to $20,000 for work he did earlier this year for the Calumet Township assessor's office.
They voted Wednesday to order the county assessor, sheriff and highway department to put $69,000 in consulting contracts out for competitive bidding even when the current consultant offered to do the same job for no increase over this year's amount.
"We're going to start to get our spending under control," Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-Schererville said.
Commissioner Fran DuPey, D-Hammond, said she was particularly upset with the Calumet Township assessor for waiting until the end of the year to have them sign a contract to pay McDowell. "You can't come to work here and then give us a bill."
Commissioners said they had no problems renewing a $600,000 contract with Parker, Poe, Adams and Bernstein, a law firm based in North Carolina and South Carolina, and $150,000 to Laszlo and Popp, a Merrillville accounting firm.
The two firms represent the county in litigation, now six years old, against BP, U.S. Steel and Mittal Steel over how much the industry giants owe in property taxes.
Commissioners said the two firms have saved the county millions of dollars in taxes that would have been lost if these and other businesses had won their tax disputes. Trials to resolve the tax dispute are set to begin next year.
Commissioners voted to give Nexus Group Inc. another $336,000 to help the county perform a complicated annual property reassessment called trending to ensure the fairness of future property taxes.
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Griffith will pay McDowell wrote on Nov 20, 2008 8:54 AM:
Geezer wrote on Nov 20, 2008 7:21 AM:
Why do they have to come from out of state? no smart lawyers in Indiana?
If they got after BP and the steel companyies they are doing a poor job. If they were efficient real estate taxes would be lower.
I guess I'm in the wrong business by working for a company that makes something rather than one that spews dumb and most times unneeded ideas. "
Daniel Kmak wrote on Nov 20, 2008 4:34 AM: