Indiana

THERE?S ANOTHER DISASTER COMING!!!

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

If you thought the floods and rains that hit south central Indiana were bad, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

Marion County lawmakers got a briefing tonight on the property reconciliation bills that are going out this week and when it’s all said and done homeowners will wish their property was under 10 feet of water.

According to one lawmaker, “this is not going to be pretty.”

The briefing was conducted by Marion County Treasurer Mike Rodman. Residents will see very little, if any relief in most cases.

The lawmaker, who asked not to be identified said, “the people who were the most vocal last summer will be the ones who see the least amount of relief.”

And to add insult to injury, only one-third of Marion County residents pay their property taxes through escrow, the rest just pay their bills as they get them in the mail.

200,000 reconciliation bills went out today. The rest will go out later in the week. And because of state lawmakers, you won’t get your rebate check until AFTER you get your bill.

One section of Marion County that saw 90 percent increases in their bills will now see 70 percent.

It also appears the two largest culprits for the tax increases are schools and the failure of local lawmakers to phase in a replacement of the inventory tax.

And just to add insult to injury, I’m told the township assessors did not fully comply with the Department of Local Government and Finance Rules so the property tax bills which are slated to come out in October and December will also be estimates so there will be another reconciliation bill waiting for you next year.

More details are yet to come, but from I understand this going to get real ugly real quick.

Someone may want to declare Marion County a disaster area now.

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on June 09, 2008 (boomark / email).