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Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Ind. Courts - "Township assessor sues over loss of duty"
Rebecca S. Green of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports today in a lengthy story:
The Huntington Township assessor sued a number of Huntington County officials - and some state agencies - Monday, contesting recent legislation that will phase out township assessors as unconstitutional.Attorney General Steve Carter's official opinion, HEA 1001 and Transfer of Assessor Duties, is available here.And amid her recitation of portions of the Indiana Constitution and the recently enacted House Bill 1001, Joan Stoffel's lawsuit outlines the jarring transfer of her office to the Huntington County assessor's last month.
Signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels in March, House Bill 1001 cut property taxes statewide by an average of 30 percent this year. One of the provisions of the law the transfer of the duties of the 966 township assessors in townships with less than 15,000 parcels to the county assessors. In the remaining 43 townships of more than 15,000 parcels, voters will decide in November whether to transfer the township assessor's duties to the county.
In early May, Attorney General Steve Carter issued a legal opinion, saying elected township assessors will continue to get their full salaries this year even though the property assessment jobs will shift to the counties' assessors in July.
Stoffel's lawsuit, filed Monday in Huntington Circuit Court, names the state, the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, Huntington County, the Huntington County commissioners and County Council members and Huntington County Assessor Terri Boone. * * *
Stoffel's attorney, Indianapolis-based John Price, said he and Stoffel believe the township assessors should be allowed to finish out their terms, until Dec. 31, 2010, at full salary.
And he worries other township assessors will be kept from employment at the county assessors' offices, particularly if the two are from different political parties.
In her lawsuit, Stoffel is asking a judge to rule state legislators violated the state's Constitution when they passed House Bill 1001, and, among other requests, find the county-level officials interfered with Stoffel's contract between her and her constituency as an elected official, according to court documents.
Stoffel also wants a judge to grant class-action status to the case because she said she is acting on behalf of the state's township assessors, some of whom have already been told they have no job, or that they will not be paid any salary or other compensation for the rest of 2008, according to court documents.
A class certification would be welcome, said Becky Williams, Franklin Township assessor in Marion County and president of the Indiana Assessors Association.
She said she hears a lot of horror stories from township assessors around the state about what is going on during the transition before the July 1 date, such as township assessors being offered only $1 in salary a year for the remainder of their terms.
“There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason to what is going on,” Williams said.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 4, 2008 08:23 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts | Indiana Government