INDIANAPOLIS | State officials say it could take them up to six more weeks to sign off on region tax rates, a worst-case scenario that could push the delivery of Lake and Porter County property tax bills into the holiday season.
Local officials had assumed the state was close to finishing its reviews. But the
Indiana Department of Local Government Finance might need more than a month to approve the rates the counties need to calculate tax bills, agency spokeswoman Mary Jane Michalak said Wednesday.
"It can take up to four to six weeks to get through the process, but we have been expediting it as much as possible," she said. "Porter County is about a week ahead of Lake."
The fastest possible timetable, Michalak said, would mean another two weeks of review for Lake County and perhaps only one more week before Porter County gets tax rates from the state.
Porter County Treasurer Jim Murphy said it then would take the county roughly five weeks to calculate, print and mail tax bills. If the state takes the full five weeks to review the rates, Porter County bills wouldn't go out until Nov. 9 and a single lump payment would be due Nov. 26, the Monday after Thanksgiving.
"It's the holidays and everybody's going to be unhappy," Murphy said. "I hope they don't take it out on me."
The worst-case scenario is even less palatable in Lake County, where officials might have to ask homeowners to fork over the first of two tax payments in late December.
"I hesitate to do that around Christmastime to people," Lake County Treasurer John Petalas said. "By the same token, we don't want people to get stuck with four bills next year."
Property owners typically receive one tax bill due in May and another that must be paid in November, but delays tied to a new assessment system have stalled things across the state.
"Every tentative deadline we've had has fallen on its butt ever since March," Murphy said.
Porter County had hoped to mail tax bills Sept. 22, but mid-October now looks like the most optimistic target.
Petalas and Lake County Auditor Peggy Holinga Katona question why state officials would need six weeks to complete a final review that they say typically took no more than two weeks in past years.
"I can't understand why there's going be that long of a delay," Katona said.
Once Lake County gets the rates from the state, it will take about nine weeks to calculate, print and mail bills, said Mike Wieser, Katona's finance director. Figuring the impact of the 2 percent circuit breaker, and other tax breaks in Hammond and Whiting, lengthens the process, he said.
If the state review takes the full six weeks, Lake County would get tax rates on Oct. 17 and mail bills around Dec. 19, meaning a first payment would be due in early January. Under the best-case scenario, the county would get the rates later this month, mail bills in early November and request an initial payment in late November or early December.
Porter County is making up for lost time by requiring property owners to pay their taxes in one lump sum, but Lake County officials argue doing that would be unfair to lower-income residents.