July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Vandals upset area woman (12/01/06)
Letters to the editor
To the editor:
This letter is about a problem I am having. I live in the little town of Pennville. A few months ago, someone came on my property, soaped my house windows, put toilet paper everywhere, and destroyed all my solar lights around my house and carport.
Some people might think this is no big deal, or laugh at me. But, it happened again Friday night. They again soaped my windows (house and camper), and broke all my solar lights
They also wrote Merry Christmas on a couple of windows. Tell me to have a Merry Christmas when they destroy my lights? I don't think so. Whoever these people are, they think they are having fun. But it is costing me.
There will be no more solar lights up unless they want to buy me some. I believe God only knows who these people are. And I wish them a Merry Christmas.
Thanks for reading this and helping to catch these people.
Bonnie Cart
Pennville
Good change
To the editor:
Like many Hoosiers, you probably find our state's method of property tax assessment confusing. As one of nearly 20,000 realtors in Indiana, we experience the headaches it causes for our clients on a daily basis. But under the new system of trending being implemented, some of the mystery should disappear. This is because with trending, the assessed value of all residential property will be updated (or adjusted) every year.
Unless you have had major improvements to your home, you have been paying property taxes on an assessment based on Jan. 1, 1999 for the past four years. But later this autumn, taxpayers should receive a notice from township assessors providing the new assessed value for next year's taxes. An actual visit to your home by the assessor should not be necessary, as data from recent transactions will instead be used to "trend" assessments according to the local residential market.
The Indiana Association of Realtors believes that trending is long overdue, as 48 other states already have a similar process for updating assessments. And although there may be some property tax "sticker shock" as trending takes us from 1999 to more current values in one year, we believe it is in the best interest of all Hoosier property owners, including current and future homeowners. If done properly, trending can rectify the systemic inaccuracy in assessments identified by the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute in its comprehensive tax equalization study (see http://www.indianafiscal.org).
Trending each year will help eliminate the wild shifts in the tax burden between types of property that followed the 2002 reassessment. There could be some pain for homeowners in 2007, but a higher assessment does not mean that one's property taxes are guaranteed to increase. If your neighbors were "under-assessed" to a greater degree than you, your share of the tax burden might actually be reduced.
The property tax is not going to disappear overnight, as there are no reasonable options for immediate elimination. However, the Indiana Association of Realtors will continue to fight for reducing our overall reliance on this tax to fund local government and schools. We must also make certain that the property tax is grounded in transparent, accurate assessments so that taxpayers can have confidence that they are paying their fair share. If trending is done correctly, it should help us make progress toward this latter goal.
Sue Pfohl
President, Indiana
Association of
Realtors
Raise it
To the editor:
Would you spend a nickel to ensure that there were sufficient mental health and addiction services available? If the alcohol tax were increased by just a nickel a drink, that increase would generate an additional $145 million in revenue.
We all pay for the costs of alcohol misuse and abuse, whether or not we drink. But the alcohol tax is a "user fee" that would only be paid by those who drink. The alcohol tax in Indiana has not been raised since 1981, meaning that alcohol is cheaper now that it was over 25 years ago.
Consequently, we continue to lose valuable revenue that could be used offset the billions the state spends every year on alcohol related costs.
Many good programs that serve persons with mental illness and addiction issues may close because of lack of funding. Is the mental and physical health of Hoosiers worth a nickel? A majority of Hoosiers, who support an increase to fund prevention and treatment programs, think it is.
It's time to increase the alcohol tax.
Lisa Hutcheson, director,
Indiana Coalition to
Reduce Underage Drinking[[In-content Ad]]
This letter is about a problem I am having. I live in the little town of Pennville. A few months ago, someone came on my property, soaped my house windows, put toilet paper everywhere, and destroyed all my solar lights around my house and carport.
Some people might think this is no big deal, or laugh at me. But, it happened again Friday night. They again soaped my windows (house and camper), and broke all my solar lights
They also wrote Merry Christmas on a couple of windows. Tell me to have a Merry Christmas when they destroy my lights? I don't think so. Whoever these people are, they think they are having fun. But it is costing me.
There will be no more solar lights up unless they want to buy me some. I believe God only knows who these people are. And I wish them a Merry Christmas.
Thanks for reading this and helping to catch these people.
Bonnie Cart
Pennville
Good change
To the editor:
Like many Hoosiers, you probably find our state's method of property tax assessment confusing. As one of nearly 20,000 realtors in Indiana, we experience the headaches it causes for our clients on a daily basis. But under the new system of trending being implemented, some of the mystery should disappear. This is because with trending, the assessed value of all residential property will be updated (or adjusted) every year.
Unless you have had major improvements to your home, you have been paying property taxes on an assessment based on Jan. 1, 1999 for the past four years. But later this autumn, taxpayers should receive a notice from township assessors providing the new assessed value for next year's taxes. An actual visit to your home by the assessor should not be necessary, as data from recent transactions will instead be used to "trend" assessments according to the local residential market.
The Indiana Association of Realtors believes that trending is long overdue, as 48 other states already have a similar process for updating assessments. And although there may be some property tax "sticker shock" as trending takes us from 1999 to more current values in one year, we believe it is in the best interest of all Hoosier property owners, including current and future homeowners. If done properly, trending can rectify the systemic inaccuracy in assessments identified by the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute in its comprehensive tax equalization study (see http://www.indianafiscal.org).
Trending each year will help eliminate the wild shifts in the tax burden between types of property that followed the 2002 reassessment. There could be some pain for homeowners in 2007, but a higher assessment does not mean that one's property taxes are guaranteed to increase. If your neighbors were "under-assessed" to a greater degree than you, your share of the tax burden might actually be reduced.
The property tax is not going to disappear overnight, as there are no reasonable options for immediate elimination. However, the Indiana Association of Realtors will continue to fight for reducing our overall reliance on this tax to fund local government and schools. We must also make certain that the property tax is grounded in transparent, accurate assessments so that taxpayers can have confidence that they are paying their fair share. If trending is done correctly, it should help us make progress toward this latter goal.
Sue Pfohl
President, Indiana
Association of
Realtors
Raise it
To the editor:
Would you spend a nickel to ensure that there were sufficient mental health and addiction services available? If the alcohol tax were increased by just a nickel a drink, that increase would generate an additional $145 million in revenue.
We all pay for the costs of alcohol misuse and abuse, whether or not we drink. But the alcohol tax is a "user fee" that would only be paid by those who drink. The alcohol tax in Indiana has not been raised since 1981, meaning that alcohol is cheaper now that it was over 25 years ago.
Consequently, we continue to lose valuable revenue that could be used offset the billions the state spends every year on alcohol related costs.
Many good programs that serve persons with mental illness and addiction issues may close because of lack of funding. Is the mental and physical health of Hoosiers worth a nickel? A majority of Hoosiers, who support an increase to fund prevention and treatment programs, think it is.
It's time to increase the alcohol tax.
Lisa Hutcheson, director,
Indiana Coalition to
Reduce Underage Drinking[[In-content Ad]]
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