July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Reassesment may come to Jay County (08/17/07)
By By TRAVIS MINNEAR-
Jay County could be joining several Indiana counties ordered by the state to reassess property taxes.
The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance announced Thursday that public hearings will be held to investigate assessed commercial and industrial property values in five counties, to decide if reassessments are necessary.
The counties are Jay, Pike, Sullivan, Warren and Montgomery.
These counties have "high percentages of unchanged commercial and industrial values as well as other factors that have prompted the need for further review," according to the DLGF Web site. Undervalued commercial and industrial properties can shift larger tax burdens to homeowners.
Jay County Assessor Anita Mills said she was not informed about the call for public hearings until Thursday.
She added that she did not have much information on how the hearings will be conducted, because this is the first time this issue has arisen in Jay County.
"This is a whole new experience for us," she said.
Mills said she was unsure what the assessment problems consist of because the county's trending figures were approved by the state. Trending is a practice that updates estimates for property value increases from 1999 to 2005.
Brian Thomas, senior partner with Ad Valorem Solutions, Kokomo, the company that calculated assessments in Jay County, said he didn't agree with the state's view on the possible need for reassessments. He said his company used the same software and configuration methods in Jay and Newton counties, but Newton's results passed state review while Jay's are being disputed.
"I think everything was done correctly in Jay County," Thomas said.
Thomas also said he believes reassessments in will end up costing more money while yielding the same results.
Average property tax rate increases this year in Jay County have been 24 percent, according to the auditor's office.
Thus far Delaware, Gibson, Marion and Posey counties have been ordered by Gov. Mitch Daniels to reassess taxable property.
State Rep. Bill Davis, R-Portland, Dist. 33, said he has heard complaints about property taxes from some constituents who have voiced support for reassessments this year.
"People want to be treated fairly, and as of now in Jay County I'm not sure that they haven't been," Davis said. "That's what DLGF is going to look into."
Davis said he advocates a special session of the Indiana state Legislature to be called by Daniels to address property taxes statewide. This would allow legislators to appropriate money for "real property tax relief" before attempting to find a solution to rising property tax bills when lawmakers reconvene after summer recess, he added.
"In the next session of the General Assembly we need to fix this problem permanently," he said.
It might be prudent for people pay the same property tax they did in 2006 for this year, Davis said. Then members of the General Assembly could work to tackle the issue at the Statehouse in the upcoming legislative session.[[In-content Ad]]
The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance announced Thursday that public hearings will be held to investigate assessed commercial and industrial property values in five counties, to decide if reassessments are necessary.
The counties are Jay, Pike, Sullivan, Warren and Montgomery.
These counties have "high percentages of unchanged commercial and industrial values as well as other factors that have prompted the need for further review," according to the DLGF Web site. Undervalued commercial and industrial properties can shift larger tax burdens to homeowners.
Jay County Assessor Anita Mills said she was not informed about the call for public hearings until Thursday.
She added that she did not have much information on how the hearings will be conducted, because this is the first time this issue has arisen in Jay County.
"This is a whole new experience for us," she said.
Mills said she was unsure what the assessment problems consist of because the county's trending figures were approved by the state. Trending is a practice that updates estimates for property value increases from 1999 to 2005.
Brian Thomas, senior partner with Ad Valorem Solutions, Kokomo, the company that calculated assessments in Jay County, said he didn't agree with the state's view on the possible need for reassessments. He said his company used the same software and configuration methods in Jay and Newton counties, but Newton's results passed state review while Jay's are being disputed.
"I think everything was done correctly in Jay County," Thomas said.
Thomas also said he believes reassessments in will end up costing more money while yielding the same results.
Average property tax rate increases this year in Jay County have been 24 percent, according to the auditor's office.
Thus far Delaware, Gibson, Marion and Posey counties have been ordered by Gov. Mitch Daniels to reassess taxable property.
State Rep. Bill Davis, R-Portland, Dist. 33, said he has heard complaints about property taxes from some constituents who have voiced support for reassessments this year.
"People want to be treated fairly, and as of now in Jay County I'm not sure that they haven't been," Davis said. "That's what DLGF is going to look into."
Davis said he advocates a special session of the Indiana state Legislature to be called by Daniels to address property taxes statewide. This would allow legislators to appropriate money for "real property tax relief" before attempting to find a solution to rising property tax bills when lawmakers reconvene after summer recess, he added.
"In the next session of the General Assembly we need to fix this problem permanently," he said.
It might be prudent for people pay the same property tax they did in 2006 for this year, Davis said. Then members of the General Assembly could work to tackle the issue at the Statehouse in the upcoming legislative session.[[In-content Ad]]
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