By The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A state agency says nearly two dozen elected county assessors missed early deadlines to submit property tax data, and it is threatening to revoke their certifications unless the information is submitted soon.
Cheryl Musgrave, commissioner of the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, said assessors in 23 counties must turn over property-value information immediately to avoid the agency starting the revocation process.
“Delinquent data is an indication that 2008 tax bills may not go out on time and counties may have to borrow in 2008 to fund services to taxpayers,” Musgrave said.
The information is needed as a first step toward having property tax bills completed on time in 2008. The original deadline was Oct. 1, but Musgrave extended it to Nov. 15.
Those counties labeled on Tuesday as delinquent are: Boone, Cass, Daviess, Dearborn, DeKalb, Fountain, Greene, Harrison, Hendricks, Huntington, Jackson, Johnson, LaPorte, Madison, Martin, St. Joseph, Steuben, Tippecanoe, Vermillion, Vigo, Washington, White and Whitley.
Some of those assessors said they are working as hard as they can.
Martin County Assessor Carolyn McGuire said this morning the delay came as the county learned they had to figure commercial property differently.
“That put us behind,” McGuire said. “We’re working on it and will be able to submit it next week.”
One of the first county’s to have their data in last year, she’s taking the state’s threats seriously. “I’m always concerned,” she said. “I don’t take anything lightly.”
Daviess County Assessor Dennis Eaton said this morning he felt a little blindsided by the threat.
“It’s kind of disappointing,” he said. “It’s my responsibility, and I accept that.”
The 2007 pay 2008 trending, which compares sale to assessment, was contracted out again this year to a professional firm which doesn’t have the job done yet. Eaton said the same company did the work last year and did an excellent job, probably saving the county from having to go through reassessment, according to Eaton. The report was supposed to be done by the end of August, but the company fell behind and now is expected to be done by the next deadline of Dec. 10.
“I told them (the state) that Nov. 15 was an unrealistic deadline,” Eaton said. “The state had been stressing the professionalism. We went with a professional company, and now they (the state) want to penalize the counties and the county assessors. The whole thing’s a mess.”
St. Joseph County Assessor David Wesolowski said the delay there comes from a switch from one data system to another. He said his office was still collecting the information from township assessors.
“You can only deliver it if it’s there,” he said.
Mary Jane Michalak, a spokeswoman for the Department of Local Government Finance, said the agency knows that assessors are working hard but wanted to “send a message” to counties that they have to fulfill their obligations. Other counties are delinquent as well but have contacted the agency to explain.
“We’ll still consider revoking certifications for assessors in other counties” who fail to meet future deadlines, Michalak said.
Still, the certification revocation may be largely symbolic. An assessor who loses certification could continue to work and be paid.
A new state law prohibits assessors from running for re-election in 2010 if they are not certified. But the agency can revoke certification for no more than one year, so assessors whose terms last through 2010 would be largely unaffected.
