Some Counties Struggle to Collect Property Taxes

Marion County‘s struggle to get caught up on its property-tax billing cycle has been complicated by a big backlog of homeowners appealing their old bills, but other parts of the state don‘t appear to be having the same problem.

Property-tax consultant and Columbus Representative Milo Smith works with clients in about half Indiana‘s counties. He says except for places like Indianapolis and Michigan City, where the state threw out the 2007 assessment as hopelessly flawed, the number of tax appeals has stayed relatively constant, despite some continuing spikes in tax bills. Smith says trending will start to work in some homeowners‘ favor next year, as assessments begin to reflect the surge in foreclosures that began last year.

A new law Smith authored may reshape the battlefield for some appeals. Homeowners appealing their tax bills normally must prove their assessment was too high. But if their assessed value jumps five-percent or more in a year, the new law shifts the burden to assessors to prove they got it right.