Indiana Senate OKs bill to help offset problems created with late property tax bills

INDIANAPOLIS | Property tax bills are one step closer to coming out twice a year -- every year -- after the Indiana Senate approved legislation requiring provisional bills be sent to taxpayers when counties are slow to calculate actual tax bills.

Under House Bill 1059, taxpayers would receive a provisional property tax bill in the spring totaling 50 percent of the taxes due the year before. A second tax bill in the fall would reconcile the provisional bill with the actual taxes owed.

Many local governments and school corporations in Northwest Indiana have had to borrow money from banks due to late property tax billings. Interest on those loans is repaid with taxpayer dollars diverted from other services.

The Senate approved the legislation 50-0. Several state senators from the region co-sponsored the measure, including Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes; Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso; Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago; Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond; and Sue Landske, R-Cedar Lake.

"It is good that property owners will be able to start making biannual payments to have a better idea of what their property tax bill will be if the county can't issue the billing statement on time," Tallian said.

The legislation now goes back to the House to see if its sponsor, state Rep. Shelli VanDenburgh, D-Crown Point, will consent to Senate changes concerning specific tax billing dates.