By VICKI URBANIK

Determined to avoid another year of woefully late property tax bills, the Porter County Council on Thursday agreed to hire a former top state official to oversee this year’s tax work and outlined a plan that nearly guarantees that 2008 tax bills will go out in May.

Facing an audience filled with township assessors and other county office holders, Porter County Council President Robert Poparad, D-1st, announced that the county has secured approval from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance to issue estimated tax bills in May.

The estimated bills will total one-half of the 2007 tax bills, with the actual amount to be reconciled with the November bills.

With last year’s bills sent out so late in December, Porter County is now about eight months to one year behind schedule on its 2008 tax work. But by issuing estimated bills in May, Poparad said taxing units, like schools and towns, will not have to borrow to the extent they did in 2007 in order to keep afloat.

Then, to ensure that the rest of Porter County’s tax bill work gets back on track by the November installment, the council agreed to retain the firm of former DLGF Commissioner Beth Henkel as a consultant. Henkel, an attorney, will oversee the work of the township and county assessors, handle the upcoming rebate checks, and serve as a neutral entity to recommend staff or other changes.

Henkel’s task to assist Porter County’s assessors comes at the same time that the assessors’ jobs are on the line, as state lawmakers consider a number of bills that would eliminate township assessors after their current terms and transfer their duties to the counties.

The vote to retain Henkel’s firm, pending approval of a final contract, was unanimous, with all council members present except Jim Burge, R-at large. The Porter County Commissioners will be the ones to approve the contract; Henkel’s fee is $250 per hour, though the fee will be lower for her staff members. Poparad said he anticipates that the total fee will be no more than $25,000.

When asked if the decision to hire Henkel translates to a lack of confidence in the township and county officials involved in tax work, Poparad and county council member Rita Stevenson, D-2nd, both said the council is trying to be helpful, not punitive.

“I want to help the people here get their jobs done,” Poparad said. “This is step one.”

Stevenson said the decision to hire an outside consultant is not intended to blame anyone or any office for the late taxes, but added: “We are just tired of the excuses. We want to find out what the answers are.” She noted that some blame the state for the tax problems, while others say that township and county office holders are at fault. “We just want the truth,” she said.

Tax Bills on Time

Popard opened Thursday’s special meeting by noting that of Indiana’s 92 counties, 64 sent out tax bills late in 2007. Most delays were attributed to ongoing statewide changes in reassessment methods.

In Porter County, the late bills forced taxing units to borrow more than $3 million to keep operating, Poparad said. Included in that figure are the loans that taxing units commonly take out at the start of each year – even when tax bills are on time.

Poparad secured the approval for Porter County to issue the estimated bills after he and council attorney David Hollenbeck met with DLGF Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave.

The estimated bills will get the taxing units money they need, while “buying time” for the township assessors and county officials to get caught up with the actual 2008 tax bills, Poparad said.

“We’re not fighting the clock like we were last year,” he said.

At Poparad’s suggestion, the council directed Porter County Treasurer Jim Murphy to write Musgrave and formally request approval for estimated bills.

Last year, the county council was told that the DLGF would not approve the issuance of “provisional” bills, which some council members, including Poparad, wanted to do. But on Tuesday, Poparad said provisional and estimated bills aren’t the same, since not all property is included in provisional billing.

“The DLGF will do nothing to stand in the way of sending out tax bills,” Poparad said.

When asked by Poparad if his office has the staff and other resources to issue both estimated bills and the reconciling bills in November, Murphy said yes.

Henkel

One of Henkel’s first duties will be to oversee the issuance of rebate checks that every home owner will receive, in accordance with a bill passed by the Indiana Legislature last year.

Lawmakers set aside a total of $550 million over two years to give homeowners an additional homestead credit. But instead of giving homeowners the break directly on their 2007 bills, lawmakers directed counties to mail out separate rebate checks.

Those checks, estimated at more than $200 on average statewide, must go out 31 days after the 2007 tax bills are due.

Porter County Auditor Jim Kopp confirmed that his office can’t make that deadline, due to a lingering problem with the final numbers for the county’s Tax Increment Financing districts. The state and the county have been working on the TIF numbers, but the delay is in turn holding up final approval of the document known as the tax abstract.

Henkel was directed to delve into those TIF numbers and get the abstract finalized, so that the rebate checks can go forward and, as Poparad put it, “get the money back in the taxpayers’ hands.”

Dead Serious

Last year, the county council called a number of special meetings, some of which got heated at times, to hear updates from office holders on the tax bill work.

The fact that the ‘07 bills still went out so late may have been the proverbial straw that broke the council’s back, judging by the no-nonsense approach taken at Thursday’s meeting. Poparad several times asked anyone in the audience if they wanted to comment, but only a few said anything.

One was Jackson Township Assessor Jan Meyers, who thanked the council for agreeing to help the assessors. “We’re swamped,” she said.

Council member Dan Whitten, D-at large, said he doesn’t care what happened in other counties, but that Porter County cannot repeat another year of late tax bills. “Taxpayers in Porter County are angry right now,” he said.

Posted 1/11/2008