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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Ind. Court - Clark County seeks special property tax; Judge Wentworth hears appeal on property levy

Ben Zion Hershberg has the story in today's Louisville Courier Journal. Some quotes from the beginning of the long, involved story:

Was the Clark County Council’s $2.7 million reduction in property tax collections in 2007 an intentional decision to ease the burden on taxpayers or was it a mistake by elected officials who didn’t understand the impact of their decision?

Deputy Attorney General Lynne Hammer and Clark County Attorney Greg Fifer argued those positions, respectively, Friday, in an Indiana Tax Court hearing in the Madison courthouse.

Clark County’s appeal asks the Tax Court to overturn a Department of Local Government Finance decision in late 2010 to reject a special property tax increase the county requested to solve the budget problems created by the 2007 decision.

“If a public body makes an imprudent or ignorant error, there are limited tools for fixing that” allowed by state law, Fifer argued to Tax Court Judge Martha Wentworth. The tools include a special tax increase like the one the council and Clark County commissioners sought, Fifer argued.

For background, start with this ILB entry from Oct. 11, 2011.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 21, 2012 10:33 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts | Indiana Government