TEAM HAMMOND TAXPAYERS' GROUP

TOP 18 REASONS TO SUPPORT CONSTITUTIONAL PROPERTY TAX CAPS

2010-01-07T22:11:00.004-06:00

1. Property tax relief will not disappear.

A recent example of how property tax relief CAN disappear is the 20% statewide sales tax increase that was imposed by Indiana's General Assembly effective December 1, 2002. Hoosiers were told by their General Assembly public servants that the sales tax increase from 5% to 6% would be used to lower homeowner property taxes by an average of 16.3%. Starting in 2003 and continuing through 2007, seventeen legislative and administrative actions taken by the Governor and General Assembly, together with increased local government spending, decreased the promised 16.3% homeowner property tax relief to just 2.4%. Details of this disappearing property tax relief can be found at http://finplaneducation.net/betrayal_incompetence.htm.

The General Assembly once again increased the statewide sales tax from 6% to 7% on April 1, 2008, to pay for another round of property tax relief. This latest property tax relief is based on the following legislative changes in the 2008 property tax relief bill: property tax caps based on assessed value, required referenda before the caps can be bypassed, $45,000 standard deduction from homestead assessments, 35% supplemental deduction from most homestead assessments, seniors homestead deduction, state assumption of seven property tax levies, local option income taxes for property tax levy replacement and relief, unelected governing body budgets approval. Full details regarding the 67 provisions in the 2008 property tax relief bill enacted by the General Assembly can be found at http://www.finplaneducation.net/2008_property_tax.htm.

According to the Statewide Property Tax Report from the Legislative Services Agency for the 68 counties for which data were available as of September 2009, Pay 2009 property taxes were lower than Pay 2007 property taxes for 95.5% of homeowners by an average of 32.2%. Homeowners received so much tax relief from homestead deductions that most were below the 1.5% cap (which becomes 1% in 2010). More rental housing owners got relief from their 2.5% cap (which becomes 2% in 2010) because much of this property is located in cities and towns where property tax rates were higher. Commercial, industrial, and utility real and personal property owners reached their 3.5% cap (which becomes 3% in 2010) only in those counties with particularly high tax rates. Agricultural property taxes increased due to a hike in the base rate of farmland from $880 per acre to $1,250 per acre, although the eliminated school general fund levy helped to limit the increase.

Largely because of General Assembly actions to accommodate single-interest groups, the promised homeowner property tax relief in 2003 had just about completely disappeared in 2007. The current property tax relief can also quickly disappear because every one of the provisions in the 2008 property tax relief bill is subject to erosion by the General Assembly and the operations of the market value assessment system. The farm and business lobbies are now pressuring state legislators to reduce the 35% supplemental homestead deduction, which is primarily responsible for the property tax relief currently being enjoyed by homeowners. Dramatic reductions in commercial property values (up to 40% in some areas of Indiana) will drive up property tax rates starting in 2010. In spite of the fact that individuals bear 85% of the sales tax burden that is supposed to pay for property tax relief, homeowner property tax relief is in jeopardy of once again disappearing.

According to the latest Indiana Handbook of Taxes, Revenue, and Appropriations, the Pay 2007 residential and agricultural homestead net property tax levy was $2,079,168,461 and net assessed value was $133,556,884,478. This means that in 2007 the average Indiana homeowner had a property tax burden that was 1.6% of assessed value. In addition, the Governor reported that 55% of 2007 homeowners had a property tax burden that was 1% or more of assessed value. These facts emphasize the importance of the 1% homeowner property tax cap that the 2008 property tax relief bill implements in 2010. The 1% property tax cap keeps the average homeowner property tax bill from returning to the 2007 level of 1.6% of assessed value. Even for those 80% of homeowners that paid less than 1% of their assessed value in property taxes in 2009 (according to estimates by the state's OMB), the 1% cap provides predictability and assurance that property taxes do not become an unaffordable burden.

The 1% homeowner property tax cap in the 2008 property tax relief bill is so important as a protection against disappearing property tax relief that it is included as part of a constitutional amendment in the identical bills House Joint Resolution 1 and Senate Joint Resolution 1. HJR 1 and SJR 1 must pass the State House of Representatives and State Senate respectively during the 2010 General Assembly session so voters statewide can decide by referendum on November 2, 2010, if the property tax caps are included in the Indiana Constitution. If the referendum passes, the property tax caps will become a permanent part of the Indiana Constitution where they cannot be changed by the General Assembly or court challenge.

2. Legislative-only property tax caps will not disappear.

Indiana General Assembly efforts to establish property tax caps have a short history.

(1) House Bill 1001, signed by the governor on March 24, 2006, established a property tax cap on homesteads, apartment complexes, and other residential rental property equal to 2% of the assessed value beginning in 2007 for Lake County and 2008 for all other counties. The 2% cap was to be extended to all other real and personal property in 2010.

(2) House Bill 1478, signed by the governor on May 11, 2007, virtually eliminated the property tax relief that the caps passed in 2006 were supposed to provide. The disappearing property tax relief came about because of the provisions listed next. (a) School general funds were exempted from the property tax caps - a school corporation’s local tuition support property tax levy could not be reduced because of revenue lost to the caps. (b) Redevelopment commissions and TIF governing bodies could exclude TIF replacement levies from the property tax caps. (c) The 2% cap would apply only to homesteads, instead of all residential property, in 2008 and 2009. (d) The cap that begins in 2010 for all other real and personal property increases to 3% from 2%. (e) A petition for relief (that would increase property tax bills in excess of the caps) could be submitted to the Circuit Breaker Appeal Board if a taxing unit loses at least 2% of annual property tax revenue to the caps.

(3) House Bill 1001, signed by the governor on March 19, 2008, replaced all prior property tax caps with the following caps on gross assessed value beginning in 2010: (a) 1% on homestead property; (b) 2% on other residential property (residential rentals, apartments, mobile home land, long term care facilities); (c) 2% on agricultural land; (d) 3% on other real property; (e) 3% on personal property. For 2009, these caps are phased in at 1.5% - 2.5% - 3.5%.

It is alarming how quickly the 2% property tax cap established in 2006 was pretty much wiped out by legislative betrayal the very next year! The 1% - 2% - 3% caps enacted by the General Assembly in 2008 must be enshrined in the state constitution to protect them from legislative repeal and legal challenge.

The 1% - 2% - 3% property tax caps are included as a constitutional amendment in Senate Joint Resolution 1 and House Joint Resolution 1, which are identical bills that must pass the State Senate and the State House of Representatives respectively during next year's General Assembly session so voters statewide can decide by referendum on November 2, 2010, if the property tax caps are included in the Indiana Constitution. If the referendum passes, the property tax caps will become a permanent part of the Indiana Constitution where they cannot be changed by the General Assembly or court challenge.

3. Farmers will be helped.

The 2008 property tax reform program is included House Bill 1001 and the constitutional amendment in the identical Senate Joint Resolution 1 and House Joint Resolution 1. The SJR 1 and HJR 1 constitutional amendment would make the 1% - 2% - 3% property tax caps permanent AND protect property tax deductions and credits from constitutional challenge.

Farmers have been ill-served by the Indiana Farm Bureau opposition to SJR 1 and HJR 1 because the 2008 property tax reform program helps farmers in the seven ways listed next.

(1) Like other homesteads, farm homes and the acre of land they sit on have their property tax cap lowered to 1% of their fair market value from 2%.

(2) Because farm land uses less of the municipal services normally paid for by property taxes, the cap for farm land is lowered to 2% from 3%.

(3) The remainder of farm business property taxes are capped at 3%, thereby creating a predictable maximum property tax burden. Average farm business property taxes will continue to be well below the 3% cap for the foreseeable future because the 2008 property tax reform program does not allow any property tax revenue shortfalls resulting from property tax caps to be shifted to taxpayer classes that have not reached their cap level.

(4) The 2005 agreement with the farm community continues where an assessment mechanism for farm land is implemented that, instead of using the fair market value required of all other real property owners, uses a market value in use approach based on changes in cash rent, yields, production costs, market prices, and interest rates. Starting with the Pay 2008 property tax year, farm land assessment calculations are based on a rolling six-year average calculated by dividing the net income of each acre by the appropriate capitalization rate. For example, the change in the farm land assessed value for the Pay 2010 property tax year was the result of the removal of the 2000 data and the addition of the 2006 data. The Pay 2007 farm land assessed value was arbitrarily frozen by the General Assembly at $880 per acre, while the subsequent calculated assessed values are $1,140 for Pay 2008, $1,200 for Pay 2009, and $1,250 for Pay 2010. An acre of farm land typically appraises at a fair market value of $4,200, and an acre of farm land in Hamilton County sells for up to $40,000.

(5) Like other Indiana businesses, Indiana farmers will continue to benefit from an accelerated depreciation schedule where farm equipment is fully depreciated within five years to 30 percent of its cost.

(6) Farmers will continue to benefit from sales tax exemptions on the sale of goods directly used in farming and on utility sales to a person for use in agriculture.

(7) The following costs are removed from local property taxes and transferred to the state: school general fund costs, child welfare levies, costs of juvenile incarceration in state facilities, state fair and forestry levies, hospital care for the indigent, pre-school special education levies, costs of certain police and fire pensions.

The importance of the 2008 property tax reform program to farmers is emphasized by comparing the increase in the value of farm land to the increase in the net property tax on agricultural business real property (which includes farm land). Farm land assessed value increased 36.4 percent from $880 per acre in 2007 to $1,200 in 2009. However, according to the December 1, 2009, Property Tax Impact Report from the Legislative Services Agency, the 2009 net property tax of $344.4 million on agricultural business real property was only 10.5 percent more than the 2007 net property tax of $311.7 million. The net property tax on agricultural business real property did not increase at the rate of the farm land assessed value increase because of the costs removed from the 2009 property tax bill by the 2008 property tax reform program.

In particular, the permanent property tax caps in SJR 1 and HJR 1 are important to the Hoosier farmer. Under the market value in use assessment mechanism with a 2% cap, farmers' property taxes will average 40 percent lower than if their farm lands were assessed at the fair market value and capped at 1%.

The key to any additional property tax relief for farmers depends on the possibility of credits or deductions on the assessed value of farm land. SJR 1 and HJR 1 make such credits and deductions immune to constitutional challenge. Farmers need to tell their Indiana Farm Bureau leaders to change their position of senseless obstruction and support SJR 1 and HJR 1.

The American taxpayer has been generous to farmers with various subsidies. Hoosier farmers should not begrudge the protection given to other Hoosier working families by the constitutional amendment in SJR 1 and HJR 1. Farmers are helped by the 2008 property tax reform program and should accordingly support SJR 1 and HJR 1.

4. There will be a more fair and affordable working family tax burden.

There are those who point out that the current property tax scheme, of which constitutional property tax caps are a part, will result in some Hoosiers paying more in statewide sales tax and local income tax increases than they receive in property tax relief. For those attuned to political reality, the proper response is "So what?" The terrible tax genie is out of the bottle – no informed citizen can envision a realistic circumstance where the statewide sales tax increase will be rescinded. If local income taxes go up to replace property taxes or replace the revenue lost to property tax caps, the tax burden is properly shifted away from property taxes to income taxes – from a tax NOT based on the ability to pay to a tax that IS based on the ability to pay.

Constitutional property tax caps are a type of "insurance policy" that protects working families from the possible future excesses of local government. Many local government has been taken over by developer-first interests where tax-increasing TIFs, nonsensical municipal annexations, and so-called development initiatives funded by taxpayers are forcing property tax burden ever higher. If push comes to shove, folks can change their buying habits to lessen their sales tax burden and use the property tax caps in SJR 1 to protect their home from the Taxpayer Unfriendly actions of local elected officials.

It is true that some municipalities in 17 counties may need to impose a local option income tax to maintain essential services. The caps cannot reasonably be expected to reduce the spending of some local governments by more than five percent. However, the HJR 1 and SJR 1 caps will make the property tax burden more predictable and the overall tax burden more fair and affordable. Fewer Hoosiers will have to choose between nutritious meals, needed medications, and keeping their home. Many working families may be one job loss, one on-the-job injury, or one illness away from needing permanently capped property taxes.

5. Homeowner property taxes will not leap up.

Some HJR 1 and SJR 1 opponents erroneously claim that the constitutional caps are useless because property tax relief depends on poorly controlled property tax assessments. Future homeowner reassessments will NOT continue to increase at the rate of recent years because ANNUAL market value trending will take the place of reassessments that covered several years at a time. In spite of currently declining home values, homeowner property tax assessments will likely CREEP UP over time, but these modest assessment increases BY THEMSELVES are NOT expected to cause homeowner property taxes to LEAP UP. Indeed, SJR 1 will KEEP homeowner property taxes from leaping up. Of course, it cannot be denied that effective legislative action to improve the assessment process, limit annual assessment increases, and establish a more sensible homestead definition would be MOST welcome.

6. Businesses will be helped.

SJR 1 is good for business. The property tax cap for all residential rentals, apartments, mobile home land, and long term care facilities is lowered to 2% of their value. The existing business property tax cap of 3% will never be increased, thereby enabling businesses to accurately predict their property taxes so they do not become an unaffordable burden.

7. Property tax revenue shortfalls resulting from property tax caps cannot be shifted to taxpayer classes that have not reached their cap level.

The property tax increase of a taxpayer who has not reached its cap threshold is limited by the 6-year rolling average growth in non-farm income.

8. Information is available to predict the effects of property tax caps.

The state's non-partisan Legislative Services Agency has computed the effects of caps on all Indiana taxing units.

9. The effect of property tax caps on K-12 school spending is manageable.

Of the 293 K-12 Indiana public school systems, 230 school systems will experience a 2010 property tax caps revenue decline that is less than 0.6% of their 2008 grand total expenditures. Fifty school systems will experience a 0.6% through 1.0% decline, while only thirteen school systems will experience a decline that is more than 1.0%. NO school system will have a 2010 property tax caps revenue decline that is more than 3.0% of its 2008 grand total expenditures.

10. Property tax caps will have NO significant impact on essential service delivery by the great majority of Indiana's cities and towns.

The great majority of Indiana's 566 cities and towns - 486 or 85.9% -will have their budgeted funds that include property tax levies impacted 5.0% or less by the 2010 caps. Of Indiana's 92 counties, 17 counties MAY need to consider a local option income tax in lieu of finding less expensive ways to maintain essential municipal services.

11. The Distressed Unit Appeals Board will not have unlimited ability to increase property taxes.

The Distressed Unit Appeals Board is a ticking property tax bomb. The bureaucrat and single interest dominated Appeals Board has the power to increase the property taxes of a distressed unit beyond the legislative 1% - 2% - 3% property tax caps. The HJR 1 and SJR 1 constitutional caps will make unconstitutional any Appeals Board decision that increases a political subdivision's property tax beyond the promised cap levels. Without SJR 1, there is no limit as to how much the Appeals Board can ultimately increase property taxes.

12. The property tax caps will be able to withstand legal challenge.

Last year’s legislative caps are blatantly unconstitutional without HJR 1 and SJR 1. The constitutional property tax caps must be passed to keep the deep-pocketed single interest groups from having the legislative caps eliminated by the courts.

13. The referendum process can be used to fund essential school and municipal services.

If local taxpayers are concerned about the effects of property tax caps on their local school system, current law allows them to approve by referendum funding and capital project increases that are not subject to the caps. Other government units can likewise have their capital projects approved by referendum.

14. Constitutional caps are a positive development for those who want to completely eliminate property taxes.

The HJR 1 and SJR 1 constitutional caps are a giant step in the right direction for those who favor complete property tax elimination by giving impetus to elimination efforts. For example, the Jeff Thompson Property Tax Replacement Plan includes a variable Property Tax Replacement LOIT that replaces the property tax revenue from all real property wholly owned by individuals residing within a local taxing area. Property taxes on real property can be replaced for all homeowners, many small businesses, and most farms within a local taxing area.

15. The homeowner caps for Lake and St. Joseph counties will eventually be 1% of assessed value.

We must not let the pursuit of perfection be the enemy of what is good. Some disingenuously assert that HJR 1 and SJR 1 should be revised because Lake and St. Joseph counties will start with different caps. Instead of 1%, the homeowner caps for Lake and St. Joseph counties will effectively be 1.88% and 1.52% respectively until 2020. Even though the beginning homeowner caps are more in Lake and St. Joseph counties, these caps will result in a 2010 property tax reduction of 36% for the typical Lake County working family and a 34% reduction for the typical St. Joseph County working family. If one word in HJR 1 and SJR 1 is changed, the constitution amendment process would have to start all over. Jeopardizing permanent property tax relief is not worth any effort to make HJR 1 and SJR 1 more perfect.

16. Property taxes can be controlled below the cap levels.

The HJR 1 and SJR 1 caps do NOT set farm land property taxes at twice the homestead level and business property taxes at three times the homestead level. The caps merely limit maximum property tax burden.

17. Indiana is NOT like California.

HJR 1 and SJR 1 opponents are trying to make the case that Proposition 13, which passed on June 6, 1978, is somehow responsible for the current budget deficit woes of California’s government units. There is research on all sides of Proposition 13 where you can find strong support both for and against constitutional property tax caps. The fact of the matter is that Indiana is not at all like California – California has sustained government overspending by relying on overly-optimistic revenue projections, while Indiana’s government units have done a pretty good job of adjusting and living within their revenue means. It is nonsense to look at California’s budget woes as a reason to oppose HJR 1 and SJR 1.

18. The protection offered by property tax caps is so important that the fate of constitutional caps should be decided by all the voters.

Representative John Day expressed an enlightened position on HJR 1 and SJR 1 during his 2008 reelection campaign. On the Indianapolis Star campaign website, Representative Day stated "While I have some doubts about whether the caps should be placed in our Constitution, the question is important enough that all the voters should have a voice on this issue." It is hoped that all state legislators appreciate that if the collective wisdom of the voters is sufficient for their election, it is also sufficient to decide the fate of constitutional property tax caps by statewide referendum on November 2, 2010.

From Watchdog Indiana

SENATE & HOUSE AGREE TO FULL VOTE ON TAX CAP REFERENDUM

2009-12-14T23:06:00.003-06:00

Congratulations to Team Hammond, all the citizens of Indiana, and especially to George Janiec and Jim Premeske. Team Hammond's spokesmen departed the region at 4:00 A.M. on Monday, December 7th, braving an interstate covered with black ice, to testify in Indy on behalf of the citizens concerning the importance of putting a Constitutional Amendment to a referendum vote in November of 2010.

Although they were outnumbered in testimony, and were facing a House Committee dominated by Democrats, some quite hostile. They intrepidly made their points on the gift of property tax caps (1,2,3 %) which the General Assembly had approved none too soon.

The issue boiled down to: why now? Both the House and Senate membership changes biennially: it takes 26 Senators, 51 Representatives and most importantly a sympathetic Governor to bring change to Indiana. In the absence of a Constitutional Amendment complicating a return to Indiana's current out of control government the House Ways and Means Committee learned the necessity of expediency. Team Hammond pointed out the national average property tax rate is .96%; the highest ten counties in the U.S. average less than 3.5%, with median home values approximating Hammond's $100,000. Meanwhile in Indiana, Hammond taxpayers paid a rate of 5.66%, while Gary was over 9%. Examples were cited on how the property tax caps provided discipline that was previously lacking, especially in Lake County! The ways and means vote was deferred until Dec 14th.

Because of the weather, there was no question that Team Hammond's spokemen would spend the night in Indy pending the Tuesday afternoon convening of the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee.

Team Hammond's Senate Committee testimony was similar to that at the House chamber. Premeske provided copies of the tables he cited to interested senators. The odds were still against us; and when Senator Lonnie Randolph (D-East Chicago) began a detailed cross-examination of Jim Premeske concerning the sacrifices endured by local government it drew every committee senators attention. Point after point Senator Randolph probed for a weak spot in Team Hammond's defense of the tax caps. Example after example was shot down as it was pointed out cutbacks had feasible alternatives which local administations bypassed. Jim's conclusion was that the citizens need not be penalized because they supported needed tax relief.

Finally a vote was taken with nine senators voting for sending SJR1 to the full Senate for a vote leading to a November referendum with three Democrats (including Senator Randolph) dissenting.

On Monday, December 14th the House Ways and Means Committee took its vote. The outcome was 21-3, with several Democrats crossing to vote with the Republicans.

With committees in both chambers agreeing to have their entire body vote on a people's referendum (vote) in November of 2010, Team Hammond is off to an excellent start for the new year. But the real battles are yet to come; Mayor McDermott and his ilk will be out in full force trying to preserve Waste, Fraud and Abuse. Anticipate they will multiply the efforts of their lobbyists against the citizens. It is now more imperative than ever to keep the pressure on our senators and representatives.

A big thank you goes to George and Jim for representing the welfare of Indiana's taxpayers.

APPEAL DEADLINE EXTENSION MEMO

2009-11-19T11:20:00.001-06:00

RECAP OF TEAM HAMMOND MEETING

2009-11-19T09:21:00.005-06:00

Joe Wszolek, an Indiana Certified Tax Representative, gave Part II of his property tax appeal presentation at the Team Hammond meeting on Tuesday night.

Form 133 He went over the reasons for a property tax appeal and what forms should be used for the two different types of appeals. Form 133 should be used to correct an error such as an exemption that has been eliminated. Form 130 should be used to challenge an assessed value on a property. Form 133 appeals can be filed all year long. Form 130 appeals have a 45 day deadline after Form 11, Form 113 or tax bills have gone out. The deadline for 2008 appeals has been extended to December 2, 2009.

Joe also covered grade ratings and how they affect your assessed value and your neighborhoods. He showed examples of different types of residential properties and their grade ratings. You can use your neighbors' grade ratings in your appeal if your grade rating is significantly different.

The property record card available at the assessor's office is the first step in gathering information for your appeal. Joe explained what information is contained in the property record card and why it is the foundation for your appeal.

In an appeal, the burden of proof is on the homeowner not the assessor. The homeowner must provide documentation and evidence in order to prove the assessment is not correct. You cannot just say my assessment is too high. You must provide evidence supporting your claim. This evidence can be a certified appraisal, sales disclosures, and assessed values of other homes similar to the homeowners. This information can be obtained from local real estate agents and the county assessor's webpage. The DLGF is also a valuable source of information for an appeal. If the homeowner is willing to do the groundwork himself, he should not have to spend alot of money trying to win the appeal.

Joe also covered the different steps in the appeal process. The assessor has 120 days to schedule an informal hearing on an appeal. If that time passes, the homeowner can go to the PTABOA (Propety Tax Assessment Board of Appeals) and request a hearing. The hearing must be held within 180 within the filing of the appeal. If the homeowner is not satisfied with the ruling of the PTABOA, the next step is the Indiana Board of Tax Review in Indianapolis followed by the Indiana Tax Court.

The deadline for 2008 tax appeals is December 2, 2009. If the deadline is missed, the homeowner will have to wait until 2010 to file a 2009 appeal. Property tax bills came out on September 29 and the 45 day deadline has passed; however, the county assessor has extended the deadline until December 2, 2009. Homeowners must include a copy of the deadline extension with their appeal should their appeal continue on to the Indiana Board of Tax Review.

Any homeowner wishing to use sales disclosures for their 2008 appeal must use disclosures from the time period January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2007. Disclosures from the current year 2009 are not valid for a 2008 appeal.

Beginning in 2010, the burden of proof will be on the assessor if an assessed value of a property goes up more than 5%.

Joe cautioned that the results of an appeal are not always in favor of the homeowner. If an appeal is within 10% of the assessed value either way, the assessor is not obligated to make a correction. The assessed value within that 10% frame is considered correct.

Currently, homeowners are having to appeal their assessments every year. Joe said he and George Janiec are working to get a law passed that would make the new assessments won in an appeal permanent, and homeowners would no longer have to appeal every year.

The presentation ended with Joe answering questions from the audience.

PROPERTY TAX APPEALS, PART II

2009-11-15T21:55:00.003-06:00

The next Team Hammond general meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 at the Woodmar United Methodist Church, 7320 Northcote Avenue. Meet n' Greet will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the general meeting to follow at 7:00 p.m.

Our guest speaker for the evening will be Joe Wszolek, who will continue his presentation on Property Tax Appeals. Joe will specifically focus on the criteria for filing a property tax appeal and the procedure for filing an appeal. Joe is an Indiana Certified Residential Appraiser, an Indiana Certified Level II Assessor-Appraiser and an Indiana Certified Tax Representative (Real Property Assessment Appeal).

If you believe the assessment on your residence is not correct and would like to know how to go about fixing it, come to the Team Hammond meeting this Tuesday night. Find out if you have a legitimate concern and learn how to navigate your way through the appeal process. Deadline for 2008 appeals is December 4, 2009; time is running out!

For more information, contact George Janiec at (219) 678-6761.

PROPERTY TAXES EXPLAINED

2009-10-27T08:51:00.002-05:00

Learn from an experienced professional

- How the property tax process works
- What the parts of a property tax bill mean
- How assessed values are set
- When it makes sense to appeal your assessment
- How to tell if your property description is correct
- How to tell if your assessment is logical and reasonable
- How an assessed value can be successfully appealed

Key Speaker will be Joe Wszolek, President, Joseph Wszolek & Associates, Inc., Indiana Certified Residential Appraiser, Indiana Certified Level II Assessor-Appraiser, Indiana Certified Tax Representative (Real Property Assessment Appeal)

Bring your tax bill and record card (Property description) for help in appealing assessments. Appeal forms and info on how to appeal an assessment will be available.

DATE: Thursday, October 29
TIME: 6-9 PM
PLACE: Woodmar United Methodist Church, 7320 Northcote (Corner of Northcote and Southwestern)

HAMMOND SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT TO SPEAK AT NEXT TEAM HAMMOND MEETING

2009-10-21T09:28:00.002-05:00

The next Team Hammond Taxpayers' Group meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at the Woodmar United Methodist Church, 7320 Northcote Avenue. Meet and greet will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the general meeting to follow at 7:00 p.m.

On the agenda is the new Hammond high school construction project. Key speaker will be Dr. Walter Watkins, superintendent of the Hammond school system. School board trustees will also attend and comment on the project.

Team Hammond meetings are open to the public.

DAN DERNULC OF THE LITTLE CALUMET RIVER BASIN COMMISSION TO SPEAK AT NEXT TEAM HAMMOND MEETING

2009-09-17T21:44:00.003-05:00

The next Team Hammond meeting will be on Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at the Woodmar United Methodist Church, 7320 Northcote Avenue. Meet n' greet will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the general meeting to follow at 7:00 p.m.

Guest speaker for the evening will be Dan Dernulc of the Little Calumet River Basin Commission. He will speak on the Little Calumet River flood control project and its current status.

Anyone residing in Lake County is invited to attend and bring your questions about the project. Feel free to invite your friends and neighbors especially those who have been impacted by the Little Cal flooding.

LAKE COUNTY COUNCIL PRESIDENT TO SPEAK AT TEAM HAMMOND MEETING

2009-06-27T22:57:00.003-05:00

Lake County Council President Larry Blanchard (R-Crown Point) will be the featured guest speaker at the next Team Hammond Taxpayers' Group meeting on Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at the Woodmar United Methodist Church, 7320 Northcote Avenue in Hammond. Meet and greet will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the general meeting to follow at 7:00 p.m.

County Council President Blanchard will speak on all issues related to the county: upcoming budget talks, cost cutting, proposed food and beverage tax and county option income tax. The meeting will be an open discussion, and Mr. Blanchard will answer questions from the floor.

Team Hammond meetings are open to everyone who is interested in good government and property tax reform. You do not have to be a Hammond resident to attend. Bring a friend or a neighbor to the meeting and become an informed citizen on the workings of county government.

SUPPORT TAXPAYER FRIENDLY SPECIAL SESSION BUDGET

2009-06-27T22:40:00.002-05:00

The next state budget passed by the Indiana General Assembly will be Taxpayer Friendly if it (1) provides sufficient resources for good government AND (2) protects Hoosier working families from state and local tax increases.

Two starkly different state budgets have been proposed in the current special session of the General Assembly - a two-year budget by the Indiana Senate under the leadership of President Protempore David Long that follows the guidelines of Governor Mitch Daniels, and one-year budget by the Indiana House as directed by Speaker B. Patrick Bauer. A spreadsheet analysis of each budget can be found online at http://www.finplaneducation.net/senatehouse_ssb_0911.htm.

Providing sufficient resources for good government is difficult during these challenging economic times - the nation's longest recession since the Great Depression. To help replace declining revenues, both the Senate and House budgets use (or intend to use) about $2.7 billion of federal stimulus funds for various education, infrastructure, Medicaid, and transportation spending initiatives. The use of these federal stimulus dollars is acceptable in the present uncertain economic environment IF tax increases do not become necessary to support recurring expenses that will now be covered by the non-recurring federal stimulus funds.

The Watchdog Indiana rule-of-thumb is that a tax increase in a subsequent budget can be avoided if all the state’s reserve funds on June 30 of the last budget year total at least 50 percent more than any structural deficit. A structural deficit is created when recurring budget spending is supported by non-recurring revenues - when appropriations that repeat year-after-year are not fully supported by current revenues, but rely on non-recurring revenues such as federal stimulus funds and reserve funds.

The House budget is Taxpayer UNfriendly because on June 30, 2010, the alarmingly high structural deficit of $1.3797 billion is fully half a billion dollars more than the state's total reserves of $877.8 million. There is little chance that revenue collections in the 2011 fiscal year will recover sufficiently to cover the structural deficit. Even though there will be an additional $289.2 million in Medicaid federal stimulus funds available for the 2011 fiscal year, a House budget structural deficit that is half a billion dollars more than the state's reserves WILL result in a 2011 tax increase.

The Senate budget is much more Taxpayer Friendly than the House Budget because on June 30, 2011, the Senate budget has a reserve funds balance of $1.0036 billion, which is 36 percent MORE than the structural deficit of $740.3 million. If revenue collections from current tax sources do not increase in line with historical levels, the state's reserves together with spending discretion by the Governor can be used to avoid a tax increase after 2011.

The K-12 education provisions in the Senate budget are Taxpayer Friendly. The Senate budget provides a spending increase for every student, and those school districts with increasing enrollments will get more state money while school districts with declining numbers of students will receive less state funding. Current law phases out per student state funding for school districts with declining enrollments over a five-year period, and phases in over five years the per student funding for school districts with increasing enrollments. Governor Daniels proposed that the five-year per student phase-outs and phase-ins be eliminated. Because some school expenses continue in school districts with declining enrollments, the Senate budget properly provides a compromise three-year period of per student phase-outs and phase-ins.

The K-12 education provisions in the House budget are Taxpayer UNfriendly. The House budget unwisely gives every school district more state funding, even those school districts with declining enrollments. The House budget reflects a philosophy that it is improper for K-12 teachers to protect their jobs by foregoing pay increases during this historic economic recession. Other government employees have had their pay frozen at a time when so many Hoosiers are experiencing income reductions and job losses. The average K-12 teacher in Indiana has a $49,569 salary with good benefits, while the median income for all the members of a Hoosier working family is $47,074. Indiana has the seventh highest teacher salaries in the nation when adjusted for cost of living. Teachers will hardly suffer if they miss one pay increase to help protect the funding of their K-12 school districts.

The Senate budget is also Taxpayer Friendly because it covers both the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years. A two-year budget provides the fiscal discipline needed to help protect Hoosier working families from the unneeded tax increases that single-interest lobbyists would demand each year if one-year budgets were unwisely adopted.

The House budget is Taxpayer UNfriendly because it covers the 2010 fiscal year only.

Some additional noteworthy Taxpayer Friendly and Taxpayer UNfriendly provisions in the Senate and House budgets are listed below (under my name). It must be noted that the long list of Taxpayer UNfriendly provisions in the House budget favors tax spenders and developers at the expense of those who pay taxes.

The same Bauer Obstruction Team that is blocking passage of the constitutional property tax caps in Senate Joint Resolution 1 is trying to use the House budget to set up a tax increase on Hoosier working families during the midst of a prolonged recession.

The bottom line is that a special session YES vote for the Senate budget is Taxpayer Friendly, while a special session NO vote against the Senate budget is Taxpayer UNfriendly.

Please ACT NOW and let your State Senator and State Representative know that you expect them to vote for the Taxpayer Friendly Senate budget! Contact information for your State Senator and State Representative public servants can be found at http://www.finplaneducation.net/general_assembly_ratings.htm.

Watchdog Indiana calls on Senator Long to improve the Senate budget further by reducing the use of the Tuition Reserve Fund in the 2010 fiscal year from $305 million to $231 million and in the 2011 fiscal year from $305 million to $262 million. Taking this action, together with eliminating the $74 million transfer from the General Fund to the Tuition Reserve Fund in the 2010 fiscal year and reducing K-12 spending by $43 million in the 2011 fiscal year, will enable the state’s reserve funds of $1.0466 billion on June 30, 2011, to be a Taxpayer Friendly 50 percent more than the structural deficit of $697.3 million. If the Bauer Obstruction Team wants the use of the Tuition Reserve Fund returned to $305 million in both the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years, insist that they allow a vote in the House on the Taxpayer Friendly constitutional property tax caps in Senate Joint Resolution 1.

From Aaron Smith at Watchdog Indiana

STATE SENATOR SUE LANDSKE TO SPEAK AT TEAM HAMMOND MEETING

2009-05-21T08:46:00.002-05:00

The next Team Hammond general meeting will be on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at the Woodmar United Methodist Church, 7320 Northcote Avenue in Woodmar. Meet and greet begins at 6:30 p.m. with the general meeting to follow at 7:00 p.m.

Guest speaker for the evening will be State Senator Sue Landske (District 6). Senator Landske will speak on topics pertaining to state government including legislation, property taxes, and the state budget. The evening's format will be an open discussion, and Senator Landske will answer questions from the audience.

Bring a friend or neighbor to the meeting, and most of all, bring questions to ask Senator Landske.

LEGISLATORS GAMBLE ON LAND-BASED CASINO PLAN

2009-04-24T12:31:00.003-05:00

April 24, 2009
By John Byrne and Jon Seidel
Post-Tribune staff writers

INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana's first land-based casino could take root in Gary near the Borman Expressway under an ambitious 11th-hour plan Northwest Indiana legislators announced Thursday that would pay for a new teaching hospital in the city and other major regional projects using tax money generated at the new gambling emporium.

Proposed amendments to House Bill 1607 would also give Gary unique authority to use money collected from the lease of the Gary-Chicago International Airport on infrastructure improvements and other projects throughout the city.

The bloated legislation also retains its original purpose, to allow creation of a four-county transportation district to govern rail and bus service in Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph counties.

But the package took on the feel of a Gary stimulus package at a conference committee hearing Thursday, with local representatives pointing to the struggling city's two casino licenses and its airport as the best assets to leverage as it attempts to remain solvent in the short term and forge a successful future in the long-term.

The proposal is sure to face opposition from some legislators who will wonder why Gary deserves such special treatment in the waning hours of the legislative session.

The casino financing package would require the amounts of admission and wagering tax revenue collected at one of the Don Barden-owned casinos in Buffington Harbor be recorded as of May 15.
Whenever a new casino opened on the south side of the city near Interstate 80/94, any increase in those tax revenues above the May 15, 2009, levels would go to three local projects: a teaching hospital in Gary; the West Lake corridor of the South Shore commuter rail extension, from Munster to Lowell; and the Marquette Plan to clean up and develop the lakeshore.

Those are dollars that would normally go to the state general fund, making it potentially problematic to garner downstate support for the plan.

No public input.

And Rep. Cleo Duncan, R-Greensburg, worried about HB 1607 undergoing wholesale changes without the benefit of the public hearings bills usually receive in the House and Senate.

"It has not passed either chamber and we're down to the nitty-gritty," Duncan said.

Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrill-ville, urged Duncan to consider what it would mean to the state if Gary went bankrupt.

"We are trying to help ourselves with this plan," Dobis said. "There are negatives, I concur. But if you want to see negatives, wait till you see the bottom line at the (Distressed Unit Appeal) Board when it reaches its conclusion" on Gary's request for state aid.

Support from Mitch

Gov. Mitch Daniels said this week he would be open to granting Gary the state's first land-based casino.

"As somebody who came late to this party, I've never understood why they have insisted on clinging to the illusion that these casinos are water-based anyway," Daniels said. "So if this is something the City of Gary feels will be helpful to them, I'm certainly willing to look at it."

Then there's the question of who would pay for a new casino in Gary.

Thursday's amendment requires the owner of the license to spend at least $150 million on the facility, though Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, predicted it would cost much more than that to erect a large-scale casino on the expressway.

Barden has had well-publicized money problems lately, and Rogers speculated he might sell the license or seek partners to defray the cost.

Barden said Thursday he hadn't had a chance to see the proposal. He declined to comment on the particulars or whether he plans to sell one of his Gary casino licenses.

"I don't have any plans to do anything about anything at this juncture," Barden said.

Clay lauds plan

Gary Mayor Rudy Clay greeted Thursday's developments as a welcome piece of good news for the beleaguered city.

The casino could generate $240 million over the next decade, Clay said, and the casino-hospital project could create 5,000 jobs.

He praised lawmakers, including his sometime political antagonist, Rep. Charlie Brown, a longtime supporter of a four-year medical school and teaching hospital in Gary.

"For the last two years he has really been on the front lines of pushing and bringing people together for the four-year medical school," Clay said.

HB 1607 started as a far-reaching, controversial plan to create a one-of-its-kind four-county transportation district with taxing powers in northern Indiana.

The transportation language remains in HB 1607, though it, too, underwent significant changes at Thursday's meeting of a bipartisan House-Senate conference committee with less than a week remaining in the General Assembly session.

Rather than separate May 2010 referendums, Dobis proposed a single, regionwide ballot question in November 2010. If a majority of voters in the whole four-county area wanted to participate, all four counties would become members.

Mayors from Gary, Hammond, Valparaiso, Portage, and the four largest cities in LaPorte and St. Joseph counties would sit on the board, which would have the power to levy an income tax up to 0.25 percent in each county to mass transit capital projects and operations.

Daniels would still appoint the ninth member, from among elected officials in the four counties.

"The mayors in all four counties would be more the beneficiaries than the counties," Dobis said.

Contact John Byrne at 317-631-7400 or jbyrne@post-trib.com.

AS CRISIS UNFOLDS, A DANIELS-BAUER SHOWDOWN

2009-04-26T11:26:00.001-05:00

By BRIAN A. HOWEY

INDIANAPOLIS - There sat the serene House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer at his desk before the Statehouse press corps last Thursday and a Mitch Daniels bobble head doll. Bauer tapped it and Gov. Daniels’ plaster head bobbed up and down. “The governor is here with us and he agrees with me almost all the time,” the Speaker said as laughter filled his small office.

Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Daniels and Bauer are worlds apart when it comes to how Indiana should be governed.

It feeds into the question of who the most powerful person in the Statehouse really is: a constitutionally weak governor seeking to radically rebuild a backwater state, or a powerful Speaker who is the bulwark for an anemic status quo, and who is motivated only by the maintenance of his own elevated political station?

When the deal-making reaches true intensity next week, will Bauer, the stasist defender whose caucus has made a mockery of just about every progressive piece of legislation that has passed through its doors, win this battle and lose the war? For Daniels, who entered this session off a landslide victory and leaves it with near 70 percent approval, his legacy is at stake. His governorship will not be deemed successful unless he can achieve profound government and education restructuring.

The backdrop to this is the potential General Motors and Chrysler bankruptcies and liquidations, coupled with a steel industry collapse, whose production is the lowest since the Great Depression. There have also been two township trustee criminal convictions this past week.

Here are the key issues that must be determined by April 29:

The budget: This is the governor’s top priority and at this writing, he is looking at a stinker. It is loaded with Obama stimulus funds he warned Bauer and Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley not to use. Daniels wants a two-year budget that is truly balanced. Bauer wants a one-year budget given the economic crisis, but the governor has no stomach for dealing with it again next year.

State revenue forecasters predict Indiana will take in $690 million less over the next two years than last December’s estimate. That doesn’t include a Chrysler liquidation that could spread to suppliers, creating a belt of Indiana counties in Northern Indiana facing jobless rates between 15 and 20 percent. A question with no answer is what happens to those numbers with an automotive/steel collapse? Kenley’s foundation is an 8 percent budget cut plus using $2 billion in federal stimulus funds to increase education spending between 1 and 2 percent.

Unemployment Insurance: This is the issue in HB1379 most likely to create the need for a special session. A House Democrat plan put forth on Monday would saddle Hoosier employers with $1 billion to fix the shortfall, compared to the $328 million in the Senate bill, which would include some cuts to beneficiaries. This is one of those issues that got kicked down the road and now a solution must be found in crisis.

Asked how many Hoosier companies are teetering financially, Indiana Manufacturers Association President Pat Kiely answered, “There is no data available to determine how many Indiana manufacturers are on the brink, but we do know anyone related to autos, RVs and housing are in the worst positions.”

A look at Department of Workforce Development notices as of Wednesday reveal 5,527 jobs that will be lost between now and the end of June, which wouldn’t include 6,000 Chrysler jobs and related suppliers. “Passing a $1 billion tax increase as called for in the House Democrat conference committee report is clearly insane and for bargaining purposes,” Kiely said.

“Probably the right question to ask is how many employees will have to lose their jobs in every sector to pay for the tax? Employees will be impacted more than companies in most cases, which makes this tactic hard to understand and even harder to understand is why we continue to play political games with a subject that needs repairs and not rhetoric with one week left,” Kiely noted.

There is persistent speculation that Bauer is angling to blow up the UI bill and let the Obama administration deal with it. How does the idea of Washington running this sensitive fund strike you?

Education: I once viewed this as a key 11th-hour bargaining chip. Daniels might get his balanced budget or some Kernan-Shepard reforms in exchange for more education funding. Our sense at this writing is that the jobs trust issue is overshadowing the issue of increased education funding. Democrats are concerned that poorer school districts are being shorted by the Republican budget.

Kernan-Shepard: The miscalculation may have been Bauer and Senate Minority Leader Vi Simpson’s decision to not choose even a few of the 27 Kernan-Shepard recommendations for passage. The complete dismissal of all Kernan-Shepard reforms sets up a dramatic political showdown for House races in 2010 that will almost certainly be played out in places like Kokomo, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Rising Sun, Marion and Pendleton, some of which will be experiencing titanic job losses. Imagine a campaign featuring a direct contrast between Daniels and Bauer. It’s coming.

My prediction? Just as we saw during the severe recession of 1982, a special session is probably likely sometime this year once we finally understand the full implications of the auto and steel crisis.

The columnist is publisher of www.howeypolitics.com.

TEAM HAMMOND GENERAL MEETING

2009-04-21T11:02:00.002-05:00

The next Team Hammond Taxpayers' Group general meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at the Galaxy Hall, 6723 Kennedy Avenue in Hessville. Meet and greet will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the general meeting to follow at 7:00 p.m.

Items on the agenda include updates on the city and county council meetings and the 2009 Indiana General Assembly.

WOW! WHAT A DAY!

2009-04-18T08:55:00.005-05:00

WOW!!! Way to be heard and seen, Freedom-Loving Hoosiers!!!!!

Although the local media would have us believe we only had around 2,000 attendees at the event (which would be correct if you were counting 2 hours before the event even started!), those trained in crowd control AND the IMPD estimated our rally had somewhere between 12,000 - 15,000 Peaceful Patriots!!!! In fact, the Capital Police remarked that they were amazed at how well behaved our crowd was!! AND, what's more, our volunteers expected to spend a few hours after the event, picking up trash and cleaning the area, BUT, there was hardly ANY evidence that 15,000 people were just there!! We Patriots sure know how to party AND not make a mess!!!

Richard and I want to thank each one of you who braved the crowds, the parking, the chilly temps AND rearranged your schedules to be a part of the rally to have our voices heard together! We really were the ROARING LION!! I know most of you did not have the vantage point that we had and could not see the crowd fully, but I want to tell you I was moved to tears on a number of occasions yesterday as I looked out at the sea of faces, the signs, the red, white and blue, ....friends, we are most assuredly are NOT ALONE!

So now what? "What can I do to get involved?", you ask. The first step is to make sure you stay in contact with the Indy Defenders of Liberty Meet-up Group. This will be the main "social group" site. There are currently LOTS of ways to be involved and get connected with other like-minded Hoosiers right in your area. Check out the message boards forum to get information on joining a Small Group. If there isn't a Small Group started in your area, YOU start one!! It's easy!! Just pick a date, a location and let me know and I'll put it out on the site. Take that step! Be a leader in your own community!

Also, continue to stay-up-to-date on the tea party site, http://www.indianapolisteaparty.com/. Now that the first "big event" is behind us, we will be working feverishly to improve the website to make sure everyone stays informed about the next steps in Reclaiming America! Want to volunteer or even take on a leadership role? Let me know! We will be having a leadership meeting as early as next week so that we can keep the fire burning!!

More importantly, don't forget to check out the Independence Caucus website to learn what truly goes on in Washington and WHY our calls, letters and emails really don't matter. As Frank Anderson, from the Independence Caucus said at the rally, you will find that there really isn't a Republican party or a Democrat party. It has become and "Incumbent" party. Their website, http://www.icaucus.org/, will show you why. Be prepared to be FURIOUS!

Again, on behalf of the over 100 Tea Party volunteers, THANK YOU Freedom-Loving Americans for joining us in having our voices heard. Let the non-representing representatives in Washington say, as Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto said after his attack on Pearl Harbor, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."We are asleep no longer.

FREEDOM!!!

Richard & Laura Behney
Indiana Tea Party Coordinator

HOUSE SPEAKER PAT BAUER: INDIANA PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE!

2009-04-15T19:48:00.006-05:00

It is more than apparent that House Speaker Pat Bauer and his fellow Democrats in the General Assembly are not interested in giving Hoosier taxpayers permanent property tax relief.

Bauer and Company continue to play their childish games by refusing to give SJR1 a hearing in the Indiana house.

Rep. Davis presented House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer with a motion to suspend House rules for the purpose of voting on SJR 1. Speaker Bauer allowed House Republican Leader Brian C. Bosma to speak on the motion. “Rep. Davis has filed a motion pursuant to Rule 8 to suspend House Rule 85 immediately for a single purpose and that’s for voting on SJR 1,” Rep. Bosma said. Rather than allowing a vote on SJR 1, State Rep. Scott Pelath (Michigan City) quickly made a motion to adjourn as Bosma stood at the podium and House Democrats immediately exited the chamber. “Once again, the speaker has chosen to ignore House rules. Rule 8 clearly states that a motion to suspend a rule takes precedent over any other business and is in order at any time,” Rep. Jerry Torr said. “Instead of dealing with the motion to vote on the property tax cap resolution that more than 70 percent of Hoosiers want, they chose to adjourn.” (from Howey Politics)

So, let's get this straight. Polls show more than 70 percent of Hoosiers want permanent property tax caps. Yet the Democrats are chosing to ignore what their constituents so obviously want by refusing to vote on SJR1.

Just who do the Democrats represent down in the General Assembly? Their constituents or special interest groups and lobbyists. We'll bet you a dollar it's not the first choice!

Time to get on the horn and call Speaker Bauer at 1-800-382-9842 or email him at h6@in.gov and ask what he has against Hoosier taxpayers that he won't give us permanent property tax relief. His argument that he wants to wait to see what effect the caps will have on local governments is hogwash. There is still more belt-tightening that needs to be and should be done. Taxpayers aren't stupid. Clay doesn't need a leased car and the Hammond Special Events Coordinator doesn't need a take-home car. If taxpayers have to live within a budget so can governments!

If SJR1 does not pass this year, we need to work very hard to give Bauer and all his Democratic cronies the boot in the 2010 elections. The Democrats in the General Assembly are not a taxpayer's friend and never will be as long as Bauer remains in office and pulls the strings.

POS POLL: WIDE SUPPORT FOR TAX CAPS

2009-04-15T19:42:00.001-05:00

An April 1-2 Public Opinion Strategies Poll shows overwhelming support for property tax caps in Indiana. House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer’s refusal to allow a vote on the caps could be setting Democrats up for a major campaign liability in 2010.

Hoosiers support the caps 73-20 percent overall according to the poll commissioned by the Indiana Realtors. The intensity is over 3-1 for, 39 strong yes, 12 strong no. Virtually all demographics are supportive. Democrats support 66-27 percent. Independents support 72-20 percent. Self described liberals support 65-28 percent. Self described strong Democrats support 65-30 percent. Every income group is over 70 percent support, as is every age group. Urban 77-16; Suburbs 71-21, Rural 69-26.

Republican support is even stronger, all in the 80’s. The caps passed both the Indiana House and Senate by wide margins in March 2008. The constitutional amendment must pass both houses again by March 2010 in order to be placed on the November 2010 ballot.

From Howey Politics

SOUND VAGUELY FAMILIAR?

2009-04-15T19:27:00.001-05:00

Click on picture to enlarge for easier reading.

STATE LEGISLATURE IS PLANNING EVEN MORE TAXES

2009-04-15T19:17:00.002-05:00

In addition to the key votes on House Bill 1730, which takes away the right to a referendum on new school buildings, the Indiana State Legislature will be voting this month on several other key bills that will have a big impact on Hammond taxpayers.

SJR 1 PROPERTY TAX CAP IS IN JEOPARDY

Senate Joint Resolution 1 (SJR 1) would provide for a referendum allowing Indiana residents to vote to cap property taxes at 1% for single family homes, 2% for rental properties, and 3% for business and industrial. This would become an amendment to the Indiana Constitution and could not be taken away without a vote of the taxpayers.

House Speaker Pat Bauer (phone 1-800-382-9842, email H6@IN.gov) currently is holding up a vote on this key resolution to make property tax caps permanent. Contact Pat Bauer and your local representative telling them to PUT SJR 1 TO A VOTE THIS YEAR. Vote FOR SJR 1 and give the voters a right to choose to make the property tax caps permanent.

PROPERTY TAX INCREASE PROPOSED FOR HAMMOND

Hammond elected officials have proposed a 16 1/2 % increase in the real estate (property) tax rate for Hammond taxpayers. Let your representatives know what you think about that.

TAXES FOR REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION

Buses are very important to many people, and we do need a transportation system. Just be aware of the possible price.

Both the House and Senate are working on bills to establish a Regional Transportation District.
House Bill 1660 and Senate Bill 479 are in committees, and may be voted on before the end of this session.

These bills would give elected officials wide ranging powers to establish Regional Transportation Districts with even more wide ranging powers to establish new taxes including county income taxes, food and beverage taxes, special benefits property tax, county economic development taxes.

To keep a lid on new taxes, contact your State and local representatives.

Any State senator can be reached at 1-800-382-9467

Any State representative can be reached at 1-800-382-9842

ACT NOW TO KEEP YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE

2009-04-14T10:45:00.002-05:00

The Indiana State Legislature is voting this month on a bill that would take away your right to a referendum -- your right to vote -- on any new school buildings.

House Bill 1730 would make it possible for cities to build and remodel schools without a referendum -- without giving taxpayers a chance to vote on it -- if the schools are "green" or energy efficient. If any new construction includes energy saving options, it means you lose your right to vote on all new buildings.

The bill now is before the Indiana Senate, which will vote on it before the session ends at the end of April.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Contact your State senator (Frank Mrvan is Hammond’s) at (800) 382-9467 to let him know it is important to keep your right to vote on any new school buildings.

Contact Governor Mitch Daniels at 317-232-4567 and tell him to Veto the bill if it does reach his desk.

The House of Representatives already voted 52 to 48 to pass this bill. Did your representative vote to take away your rights to a referendum?

State House district 1 Linda Lawson voted YES email H1@IN.gov

State House district 11 Dan Stevenson voted YES email H11@IN.gov

State House district 12 Mara Candelaria Reardon voted YES email H12@IN.gov

If you are not happy that they are taking away your right to vote on these important and very large school spending issues, let them know.

Why it is so important to keep your right to vote on new schools

The School City of Hammond already has overburdened the taxpayers.

Debt obligations for the School City of Hammond total more than $330 MILLION*
*Principle and interest, rounded to millions, from the Indiana Dept. of Education

That amount of debt comes to more than $23,000 per student.
The $104 million in interest on that debt is more than the entire debt of the City of Hammond.
Taxpayers of Hammond ultimately are responsible for this debt.

Building another high school could add another $250 million to that tax burden.

The School City of Hammond is failing the students.

The graduation rate for all Hammond schools ranks in the lowest 2% of all Indiana school districts.

More than half of Hammond's schools are failing:
Eight schools are on Academic Watch.
Five schools are on probation, with two of those in their 3rd year of probation.
None of Hammond’s four high schools meet State minimum requirements.

What you can do:

Attend the next school board meeting Thursday, April 23, 7 PM at Morton High School, 6915 Grand Avenue and let your voice be heard.

Contact the school superintendent Dr. Walter J. Watkins Phone: 219-933-2400 email:wjwatkins@hammond.k12.in.us

NEW INCOME TAX WOULD FUND FOUR-COUNTY NWI TRANSIT AGENCY

2009-04-02T00:12:00.002-05:00

By VICKI URBANIK
Chesterton Tribune

A Senate Committee on Tuesday approved a plan to create a four-county transportation district with the powers to impose a new income tax in Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph counties for current and future rail and bus service in the region, potentially giving a big boost to the South Shore extension.

The Senate Committee on Homeland Security, Transportation & Veterans Affairs unanimously passed a lengthy amendment to H.B. 1607 that would create a nine-member Northwest Indiana Regional Transportation District made up of county commissioners and county council members from the four counties.

The new transit agency would have the authority to impose an income tax of up to 0.25 percent on taxpayers in each of the four counties, with the rate determined by the level of bus and rail service in each county. The tax rate could go up or down in each of the four counties to correspond with the level of capital and operating funds in each county, as long as the rate does not exceed 0.25 percent.

The amendment appears to give the new transit board full authority to impose the tax, with no other local approval required, by a majority vote among the nine members. That suggests that a tax could be imposed in any of the four counties even if that individual county’s representatives vote against it.

The new regional agency would have separate rail and bus divisions. According to the amendment language, the current operators of the South Shore commuter service -- the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District -- would become the rail division of the new district. The Northwest Indiana Regional Bus Authority would be rolled into the bus division, as would bus services run by municipalities, such as those in Valparaiso, Gary and Hammond.

The new district board would be made up of one county commissioner and one county council member from each of the four counties. The county council member is to be the council president or another council member designated by the president.

The governor would appoint the ninth board member. This individual would serve as the district board chair and would not have voting powers, except to break a tie. The governor appointee must be an elected official from one of the four counties.

Among other responsibilities, the new transit board would hire an executive director and would have the authority to own property and to bond for capital improvements. As a public agency, its property would be exempt from property taxes.

The amendment approved Tuesday calls for the new income tax -- called the Regional Transportation Improvement Income Tax -- to take effect on Oct. 1 in the year that the tax is adopted, after the transit board approves a resolution and gives public notice of the tax in each county in which it is proposed.

The Senate Committee passed the amendment 8-0 ; the only Northwest Indiana lawmakers on the committee are Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, and Jim Arnold, D-Michigan City.

The bill now moves to the Senate Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy. The Northwest Indiana lawmakers on that committee are Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso; Sue Landske, R-Cedar Lake; and Lonnie Randolph, D-Gary.

The original House bill, authored by State Rep. Chet Dobis, D- Merrillville, was called the “West Lake” bill and called on the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority to establish separate funds for the South Shore extension to Lowell.

Dobis’ original bill also included language to require that the members of the RDA -- including Porter County -- remain as members for at least 10 years.

Dobis’ bill was amended in the House to include $53 million in appropriations from the federal stimulus bill for the South Shore commuter service as well as transit services in central Indiana. More specifically, the appropriations included $15 million toward the relocation of the South Shore tracks at the South Bend airport, $5 million for rail improvements in Michigan City, and $15 million for the initial engineering and environmental studies for the South Shore expansion to Lowell.

The amendment approved by the Senate Committee on Tuesday takes the House bill a giant step forward, by setting up a new government entity, as well as a local funding mechanism, for current and expanded rail and bus service.

Dobis’ bill passed the House 68-31. In the Senate, the bill’s sponsors are Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville; Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes; and Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso.

If the Senate-amended bill passes the full Senate, the bill would be sent to a conference committee, to resolve the differences between the House and the Senate versions.

The original language in H.B. 1607 requiring that the members of the RDA remain members for at least 10 years remains in place.
　
Posted 4/1/2009

SENATE PUSHES TRANSIT TAXING BOARD FOR REGION

2009-04-02T00:04:00.003-05:00

April 1, 2009
By John Byrne
Post-Tribune staff writer

INDIANAPOLIS -- Legislative supporters of rail and bus funding for Northwest Indiana are trying a new tack to get local taxpayers to foot the bills for the projects.

The Senate Transportation Committee voted Tuesday to create a four-county regional transportation district em-powered to levy an income tax as high as 0.25 percent to pay for mass transit in Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph counties.

The ambitious plan could raise $52 million per year to subsidize big-ticket capital projects and operating expenses, circumventing the local officials who have been unwilling or unable to adopt a tax themselves, particularly in Lake County.

If the income tax were levied at its maximum amount for each county, Lake County residents would kick in $22 million annually, Porter $12 million, LaPorte $5 million and St. Joseph $15 million, according to Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, who offered the proposal as an amendment to a House transportation bill.

Not coincidentally, Kenley's plan could pay the $350 million local share of the $1 billion-plus South Shore rail extension to Lowell and Valparaiso, and underwrite bus service in the area.

"There is a rough correlation there," Kenley, R-Noblesville, told the committee in explaining why he settled on a 0.25 percent maximum.

The nine-member, first-of-its-kind "super board" Kenley envisions would include a county council member and a county commissioner from each county, as well as a governor-appointed chairman, who would vote only to break ties.

The state budget agency would get final say on how high an income tax residents of each county would get saddled with, taking into account the capital improvement needs in each county, and the number of passengers and passenger miles each county contributes to regional mass transit.
Lake County, where a lot of work is required to complete the South Shore extension, might get a high capital assessment.

St. Joseph County requires less construction, but passengers heading into Chicago travel farther, adding to the operating assessment as the state figures an appropriate tax.

U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Merrillville, has pledged $500 million in federal transportation funds for the rail extension.

But the project has foundered in the General Assembly for lack of local matching revenue.

State Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, said there seems to be greater momentum to get something done now.

"I'm more optimistic now than I was at this time last year," said Dobis, a staunch supporter of the South Shore rail project.

Before it becomes law, however, the package has to get approval from the full Senate and head to conference committee for further consideration. If it does run that gauntlet, the bill may end up looking far different from the one approved Tuesday.

Other provisions

In addition to funding bus and rail systems in the region, the board would set goals and standards for those divisions to meet.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, administrator of the South Shore commuter rail line, would report to the new board.

So would a bus service division created by the statute, which could spell the end of the Regional Bus Authority.

Dobis, author of the transit bill Kenley amended, voiced his disdain for the RBA during testimony Tuesday.

"Our RBA today, is a disaster," Dobis told the committee. "We have no idea where they're going."

Revealing a possible point of contention as the bill advances, committee member Sen. Earline Rogers, D-Gary, defended the RBA.

"There are many among us who don't consider the RBA a disaster," she said.

Though she believes it will cut the RBA out of administering the region's troubled bus system, Rogers nonetheless voted for the proposal because it acknowledges the need for buses in Lake County.

Kenley's amendment stripped out of the bill language that would have directed $35 million in federal stimulus funds to South Shore rail projects in Lake County, Michigan City and South Bend.

The bill passed the Transportation Committee 8-0, and will next head to the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee for more debate.

Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Wheatfield, chairs Tax and Fiscal Policy.

He has expressed reservations about allowing Lake County to raise new taxes, arguing elected officials in Indiana's northwest corner haven't done enough to cut spending.

But Hershman said the cross-county membership of Kenley's board quiets his concerns.

"It makes me feel a little better that there would be a level of regional collaboration," he said.

Contact John Byrne at 317-631-7400 or jbyrne@post-trib.com

MCDERMOTT FORBIDS POLICE DEPARTMENT FROM SPEAKING AT TEAM HAMMOND MEETING

2009-03-31T08:16:00.002-05:00

Dear Citizens of Hammond;

We have been informed that Mayor McDermott has prohibited his Police Department from providing this public service to Team Hammond's citizens. Chief Miller has known he has been on our agenda for over two months! Team Hammond's public dialog with the Mayor clearly stated that this was a public service that should be rendered to all Hammond citizens. The Mayor replied that such public service was not available to a group that openly opposed him during the last mayoral election.Team Hammond repeatedly stated the Mayor could rescind, and thereby recover from, his flawed decision. At this time, we must conclude, the Mayor will not reverse his decision.

Team Hammond regrets our immature mayor's position on this issue. We have always treated our guests with utmost respect, and Chief Miller would have been no exception. Chief Miller and his staff were to be recognized tonight for their advanced educational achievements.

Team Hammond is working to fill this gap in our programming with an alternate law enforcement source. Failing that, we will review updated FBI statistics and compile a citizen's analysis of improvements we would like to see from Hammond Public Safety.

From Jim Premeske - Team Hammond

HAMMOND POLICE CHIEF BRIAN MILLER TO SPEAK AT TEAM HAMMOND MEETING

2009-03-28T09:44:00.001-05:00

Team Hammond' next general meeting will be this Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at the Woodmar United Methodist Church, 7320 Northcote Avenue in Hammond. Meet and greet will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the general meeting to follow at 7:00 p.m.

Public safety is the topic of March's meeting. Guest speakers for the evening include Hammond Police Chief Brian Miller who will speak on public safety in Hammond and its surrounding communities and what trends (such as gypsy scams) to look out for. Other speakers include Sgt. Robert Cobb who will do a gang presentation and Officer Scott Holbrook who will speak on crime statistics.

Public safety is an issue that impacts everyone. You do not have to be a resident of Hammond to attend; everyone is welcome.

For more information, please contact George Janiec at (219) 678-6761.

PATRIOT PAUL EXPRESSES HIS DISCONTENT WITH OUR STATE LEGISLATORS

2009-03-26T13:49:00.003-05:00