Rep. Carolyn B. Jackson, D-Hammond, supported the bill to eliminate township assessors, and said Tuesday before the House of Representatives vote that the move will save taxpayers money. (Alexandra Kukulka / Post-Tribune)
The Indiana House voted Tuesday to eliminate the last remaining township assessor offices around the state, with Lake and Porter county representatives differing in opinion on the bill.
In a 53-44 vote, the House voted in favor of the bill removing the 13 township assessor offices that remain in nine of Indiana’s 92 counties. The bill would transfer to county assessor offices the duty of determining the value of buildings and land for property taxes.
The 13 township assessor offices remain after voters decided to retain them in 2008 referendums allowed under a law that abolished more than 950 such offices across the state. The bill would eliminate the offices at the end of 2022.
Bill sponsor Rep. Karen Engleman, R-Georgetown, said state reports have found that county offices have been more cost effective and fair in property assessments.
Rep. Tim Wesco, R-Osceola, was among bill opponents who argued that the Legislature should respect the decision that voters made in the 2008 referendums. House Democratic leader Phil GiaQuinta, D-Fort Wayne, questioned the purpose of lawmakers allowing a voter referendum and then later deciding to overturn it.
Lake County has five of the township assessor offices that would be abolished, with one each in Allen, Elkhart, Howard, LaPorte, Porter, St. Joseph, Vigo and Wayne counties.
Rep. Carolyn B. Jackson, D-Hammond, said she supported the bill because it has been proven that positions in the township and county assessor offices overlap.
“(The bill) is going to save our taxpayers money. Many jobs will be absorbed into the county assessor,” Jackson said.
Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City, said she supported the bill because a county assessor in her region supports the bill.
“My county assessor asked me to vote yes, and I’m going to do that,” she said.
Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary, said she did not support the bill because the township assessors work “diligently and hard." In Gary, home values differ greatly across the city, so a local assessor is needed, she said.
“We need our person,” Ragen said. “For our residents, it was really important.”
Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, said he did not support the bill because Porter County officials have made clear they don’t support the move.
“We can do this different and still arrive at the same compromised solution,” he said.
Jon Snyder, the Porter County Assessor, wrote a letter to Moseley, which was read into the record Tuesday. Snyder said he’d like Moseley to oppose the bill because Portage Township residents voted in 2008 “and defeated the proposition to eliminate township assessors,” according to the letter.
“Shifting additional responsibility to the county assessor at this time would create an added burden that will disrupt this process and cause unnecessary delays in timely property tax billing,” Snyder wrote.
Lake County Assessor LaTonya Spearman wrote to Rep. Earl Harris, D-East Chicago, stating that residents should get to decide and vote on the matter, like they did in 2008.
“I believe the public spoke in 2008 when it voted to retain the five remaining township assessors’ office in Lake County. Times obviously change, and if this time once again suggests this issue be reexamined, I respectfully ask that it be left to the constituents of our community to decide,” Spearman wrote.
Harris read Spearman’s letter into the record Tuesday. He added that he believes the bill “will take away local control.”
The bill now goes to the state Senate for consideration.
Associated Press contributed.
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