LIFE UNDER THE LAKE COUNTY FEUDAL SYSTEM

Living in Lake County today can be likened to living under a feudal system during the Middle Ages.

The King was all-powerful and ruled his own country; the country in this case being a City in Lake County. In his position of power, the King felt he was entitled to everything and could pretty much do whatever he liked. A king rewarded his supporters and made sure they stayed loyal to him. The King or Mayor is at the top of the Lake County feudal system.

The Nobles are second in importance. Their job is to provide for the King's needs. In return, the King gave them large tracts of lands or in Lake County's case, extra casino revenue for their districts. The king always had to work hard to keep his nobles in line and from becoming too powerful. The Nobles in Lake County are represented by our City Council members.

Knights are third in the feudal system class. Knights paid homage to the King by promising to guard the castle (City Hall) and protect the King. In return for their service, the Nobles parceled out land to the Knights or in the Lake County feudal system, take-home cars and other nice perks (Las Vegas junkets). The Knights in Lake County are represented by City Department Heads.

The lowest class in the feudal system are the peasants or in our case, taxpayers. Peasants were given small tracts of land by the Knights. Althought they were the highest population, peasants were heavily taxed and had very few rights. Peasants (taxpayers) not only had to take care of themselves but were also expected to take care of the upper classes as well. Peasants also paid homage to the King (Mayor) who promised to protect them.

How did feudalism end in medieval England? It began with the Peasant's Revolt of 1381. The peasants had had their fill of being heavily taxed (a third poll tax) and revolted against the king demanding their rights and an end to unfair taxation.

The Taxpayers' Revolt of 2008. Let's put an end to our Lake County feudal system.

AN INDIANA TAXPAYERS' DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

WE ARE THE TAXPAYERS of the State of Indiana. Our State’s Founders commenced our Indiana Constitution with this preamble:

WE, the People of the State of Indiana, grateful to ALMIGHTY GOD for the free exercise of the right to choose our own form of government, do ordain this Constitution.

IN THIS SPIRIT WE HEREBY AND HEREWITH DECLARE OUR RIGHTS AS TAXPAYERS OF THE STATE OF INDIANA AS FOLLOWS:

1. Right Of Uniform And Equal Taxes
Our social contract with the governmental agencies of our State is simply that we consent to pay taxes from our assets and expect government at all levels, to uniformly and equally collect those taxes, and to expend our money for valid societal needs.

2. Right Of Property Ownership
As Americans and as Hoosiers we have the right to own and use real estate and to pass ownership on to our children.

3. Right to Continue To Own And Use Real Estate
We have the right to continue to own our real estate without the threat of sale and seizure of our real estate for failure to pay property taxes.

4. Right To Avoid Taxation On Unrealized "Gains"
We have the right to avoid the taxation of our real estate which values our real estate at more than we paid for it. Taxing our real estate at increasing "market value" levels inevitably has the effect of taxing "gains" that we have not realized, nor received, which no government should have the right so to do. The IRS only collects on real estate or stock gains that are actually received by taxpayers.

5. Right To Avoid Tax Sale Of Real Estate
It is a violation of our rights as owners of real estate to assess our real estate at "market value" levels, imposing higher taxes at each assessment cycle on "gains" we have not received, and then forcing the seizure and sale of our real estate at a tax sale. It is tyranny for our government so to do.

6. Right of Uniform And Equal Taxation
Our Indiana Constitution gives taxpayers the right to uniform and equal taxation. Our property tax system is neither uniform, nor equal. The assessment of the "market value" of real estate is a subjective procedure, ripe with inherent errors and abuses. If we want to buy more or earn more, we expect to pay higher sales or income taxes. Forcing higher and higher property taxes on the same unchanging asset is just wrong.

7. Right To Fight To Repeal Property Taxes
As taxpayers, voters and citizens, we have the right under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution (applied to the States by the 14th Amendment) to petition our government for redress of grievances. Thus, we have the right to fight to repeal property taxes. We have been doing so and we will, most assuredly, continue to do so until destructive and inequitable property taxes are a thing of the past.

8. Right Not To Be Lied To (Again)
We have a right as taxpayers to expect that when taxes are raised to replace property taxes that permanent reduction would actually occur, and that our property taxes would remain reduced. However, because we were lied to in ’72, ’82 and 2002, we don’t trust government, this time, to raise our sales tax (again) and lie to us about reducing our property taxes, again.

9. Right To See Through The 1% Of True Value Myth
We retain the right to see through the myth of the Governor’s proposed 1% cap on ‘true value’ proposal. The government would still have to (subjectively) decide the ‘true value’, and that ‘true value’ will still be an unrealized gain for almost all property taxpayers. We’re onto you.

10. Right To "Unelect" Opponents Of Repeal
We have the right to "unelect" those who seek to retain Indiana’s broken property tax system. We will run candidates for office who favor the freedom to own real estate without threat of government seizure. We will fight opponents of repeal in the May Primary Elections; we will fight them in the November General Elections; and will fight opponents of repeal in both major political parties. We will fight to win the battle for repeal, until the battle is won. This State, after all, belongs to its residents, not its politicians.

THUS SAY WE THE TAXPAYERS OF THE STATE OF INDIANA ON THIS 7th DAY OF DECEMBER, IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2007.

Indiana Property Tax Repeal Alliance

NORTHWEST INDIANA FORECLOSURE STATISTICS

The following statistics should be a sobering wake-up call to the people of Northwest Indiana about how the property tax and mortgage lending crises have affected us. These figures were taken from the Realty Trac website (http://www.realtytrac.com/). We have included homes that are in 3 different stages of foreclosure.

Chesterton
2 Pre-foreclosure
18 Auction
14 Bank Owned

Crown Point
43 Pre-foreclosure
30 Auction
56 Bank Owned

Dyer
14 Pre-foreclosure
9 Auction
7 Bank Owned

East Chicago
36 Pre-foreclosure
25 Auction
76 Bank Owned

Gary
243 Pre-foreclosure
216 Auction
612 Bank Owned

Griffith
25 Pre-foreclosure
17 Auction
34 Bank Owned

Hammond
130 Pre-foreclosure
99 Auction
268 Bank Owned

Highland
20 Pre-foreclosure
10 Auction
22 Bank Owned

Hobart
37 Pre-foreclosure
27 Auction
65 Bank Owned

Lowell
21 Pre-foreclosure
7 Auction
21 Bank Owned

Merrillville
73 Pre-foreclosure
41 Auction
94 Bank Owned

Munster
11 Pre-foreclosure
7 Auction
10 Bank Owned

Portage
2 Pre-foreclosure
56 Auction
59 Bank Owned

St. John
7 Pre-foreclosure
0 Auction
1 Bank Owned

Schererville
15 Pre-foreclosure
5 Auction
11 Bank Owned

Valparaiso
4 Pre-foreclosure
47 Auction
64 Bank Owned

Whiting
9 Pre-foreclosure
8 Auction
27 Bank Owned

In Northwest Indiana alone, there are 692 homes in pre-foreclosure, 622 homes up for auction, and 1,441 homes that are now bank owned for a total of 2,755 homes. There are 2,500 homes in the City of Whiting. If you compare the number of homes in the City of Whiting to the total amount of foreclosed homes in Northwest Indiana, every home in Whiting would be foreclosed on. A whole community. What a chilling thought.

LAKE COUNTY TEA PARTY TAX REVOLT

A hundred protesters braved the cold and windy weather at the Lake County Government Center on Saturday to hold a tea party tax revolt against escalating property taxes.

The protesters came from Lake County, Porter County, Indianapolis, and Freedom, Indiana. Their message was clear--cut wasteful spending in government and repeal property taxes.

County Commissioners Fran DuPey and Gerry Scheub were the only local elected officials to come out in support of the tea party tax protest.

Patriot Paul (Paul Wheeler) came dressed in Revolutionary War costume and began the tea party by reading the Declaration of Independence, which states that when government ceases to do what the citizens want, the citizens have the right to abolish that government and establish a new one. Patriot Paul also dunked the ceremonial tea bag containing tax assessments and bills into the pond as a sign of protest.

Tax activists spoke about how our elected officials ignore the Indiana Constitution and enact laws and taxes that are contrary to the foundation of Indiana government. The Indiana Constitution specifically states that taxes on corporations are to be used for the common school fund, not property taxes. It also states that a person's home cannot be sold for nonpayment of taxes.

Citizens also spoke out against the county option income tax and why replacing a tax with a tax is not relief for taxpayers. The only real relief will come from spending reductions, which our elected officials have refused to do, and a total elimination of property taxes altogether. People are continuing to suffer and lose their homes as was evidenced by Lake County foreclosure figures.

The governor's property tax reform plan was also mentioned. House Bill 1001 has seen many changes to it in both the house and senate. It seems the lobbyists and special interest groups have gone to great lengths to water down any effective reform. What the governor originally proposed may not be what the taxpayers end up with, and there is already talk of lawsuits against the 1, 2 3 tax cap plan. The General Assembly convenes on March 14. Pressure needs to be put on our state legislators to quit catering to lobbyists and special interest groups and give the taxpayers what they deserve. A permanent solution to the property tax crisis. Property tax repeal.

Elections for state representatives are also this year. If our state legislators continue to do nothing except put bandaids on the property tax crisis, there will be alot of new faces in the State House come next January.

PATRIOT PAUL AT OUR LAKE COUNTY TEA PARTY