Tax distrubution set (12/12/03)

The collection of property taxes — always stressful on both those paying and those collecting — has, for most, been even more so in this first year of taxes under a controversial reassessment.

But some of the most stressful moments are now past, and governmental units in Jay County were scheduled to receive their tax money today.

Three county officials who are in the heart of the storm when it comes to collecting and distributing property tax funds — the county assessor, treasurer and auditor — share a sense of relief that the worst is over. More than 40 of Indiana’s 92 counties have not sent out tax bills yet, and Jay County is the first to be approved for distribution of tax revenue.

“It’s a lot calmer,” treasurer Robin Alberson said on Wednesday. “I’m looking forward to a more normal year next year, whatever that is.”

This year has been anything but normal, as local officials did their best to implement a market-based assessment system created by the state under a court order.

That court order mandated that the state create a standardized assessment system to avoid inconsistencies and unfair practices.

Delays in establishing rules and procedures put virtually all of Indiana’s 92 counties behind schedule. Instead of collecting in two installments in May and November this year, all property taxes were due Nov. 10.

County auditor Freda Corwin, whose office does the financial bookkeeping for the county and also tracks exemptions that offset property tax bills, says she’s pleased that the distribution of funds was happening today — just 31 days after taxes were due.

“We’ve never made distribution on the 12th of December. It’s usually two or three weeks later,” Corwin said.

In a statistic that might be a factor of both the reassessment and tough economic times, the amount of delinquent property taxes has almost doubled to $1.3 million out of an estimated total amount of $13.9 million. In a normal year, Corwin said there is about $700,000 in unpaid property taxes.

Alberson, along with Corwin and county assessor Anita Mills, said that they had braced for an angry reaction from the public as Indiana’s property tax system was converted to a standardized market value.

But while some members of the public were upset, the level of anger was no higher than in any other reassessment year, Alberson, Mills and Corwin said.

“I’ll be honest. It wasn’t as bad as what we thought it might be. All of us in here thought it might be worse, busier (and people) more upset with us. But it wasn’t that bad,” said Alberson.

And although there were 96 property tax appeals filed (see related story) — about double the amount in a “normal” reassessment year — Mills said that total is much lower in comparison to area counties.

“I’d have to say that the public (response) was better than I anticipated ... we tried to stay calm,” Mills said. “I took some of them over in our other office, and I’d sit down with our guidelines ... and I’d ask them if they’d sell their property for this (assessed amount) ... There were a few irate taxpayers that came in, and it was very stressful. I prayed a lot. We all did. If I felt somebody had the right to appeal, I told them.”

Mills said there have been more than 500 appeals filed in Randolph County, and more than 200 each in Blackford and Wells counties.

The three county officials said that although there were some hit with huge tax increases — especially those with older homes and those who own rental properties — there were also those whose taxes actually decreased — especially those with newer homes.[[In-content Ad]]The vast majority of property owners in Jay County might not have been satisfied with the amount of taxes they paid this year — but most weren’t upset enough to appeal.

There are more than 14,600 parcels of property in the county, and formal appeals were filed for only 96 of those parcels — less than half of the amount filed in neighboring counties.

The local appeals will be heard in February and March by the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals, a five-person board that includes Jay County assessor Anita Mills, Mary Ann Rigby, Donna Chittum, Diana Stults and Regina Dunlavy.

Mills said this week that the appeals process will begin with an informal hearing to see if a resolution can be reached. If not, the local appeals board will conduct a full hearing.

The assessment might be lowered (or raised) during the informal hearing process or during the appeal before the appeals board.

Mills said the majority of the appeals were filed by the owners of older homes. Those homes, which received a large amount of depreciation credit under the old property tax system, were hit hard by the switch to market value.

Other than older homes, there was no common theme to the appeals. The appeals with the biggest potential impact in terms of a possible refund were made for five industrial properties in Portland.

The property taxes for some of those properties actually declined this year, but the owners are claiming that the assessed value does not reflect what the property would bring on the market.

Just two appeals were filed by the owners of rental properties. In those cases, the increase might have been even more significant because the owners were not eligible for the homestead exemption.

The appeals hearings will be held beginning in early February, with one hearing scheduled every 45 minutes each day. Those hearings must be completed by late April.

Anyone unhappy with the decision at the local level may appeal to the Indiana Board of Tax Review.