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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Ind. Gov't. - More on: Lake County treasurer removes discharged bankruptcies from property tax rolls

Updating this comprehensive ILB entry from April 8, 2007, Joe Carlson of the NWI Times reports today:

John Curley, the assessor and trustee of Winfield Township, said he is disturbed by recent disclosures that some taxpayers were allowed to dodge the normal property tax system in October 2006 by using bogus claims of bankruptcy.

But rather than paying to hire an outside expert to study the issue, Lake County Treasurer John Petalas should utilize the expertise the county already possesses on its payroll, Curley said.

"Since we have the knowledge and resources, it would be prudent to save the taxpayers' money by not involving another agency/law firm and keeping this project in-house," Curley told Petalas in a Jan. 7 letter.

The letter was sent several days after The Times reported at least 67 properties had been removed from the October 2006 tax sale list for reason of bankruptcy, even though the newspaper found the bankruptcies either did not exist or did not apply to the properties.

Curley and other observers have said manipulation of the tax sale is a cause for concern because it raises questions about the fairness of the entire tax system, since the threat of tax sale is the ultimate tool to force payment of delinquent tax bills.

From a side-bar:
The issue: Certain types of bankruptcies can protect landowners from paying taxes, but an investigation of removals on the October 2006 tax sale found a widespread pattern in which bankruptcies were used to shield owners who should not have been protected. An outside attorney has been investigating the issue, but one critic says the treasurer's office should keep the job in-house.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 16, 2008 07:29 AM
Posted to Indiana Government