Officials Meet in Elkhart To Talk Property Tax Overhaul

by Ed Ernstes (ernstes@wsbt.com)

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Officials Meet in Elkhart To Talk Property Tax Overhaul

By WSBT News1

Story Created: Aug 15, 2007 at 1:25 PM EST

Story Updated: Aug 15, 2007 at 4:20 PM EST

(WSBT) County officials from around Northern Indiana are trying to find ways to help lower tax bills and overhaul Indiana's controversial property tax system. That group released its recommendations Wednesday.

“What we attempted to do is boil this down to what's the basic issue right now, because it’s complicated, the assessment is, the property taxes and all of that,” Elkhart County Commissioner Miker Yoder said.

Three important suggestions included increasing state sales and income tax up to 2%.

The increases would remove some levies from current property tax bills. They also suggested making school and welfare funding the state's responsibility.

"It could be workable, but it’s going to cost money irregardless,” said Indiana State Senator Marvin Riegsecker of Goshen. “Somebody’s got to pay for it, it's going to be the taxpayers."

The recommendations have caught the attention of property owners in the Simonton Lake area. They've long felt their property tax re-assessments were way out of line.

“A compromise could be reached if we would increase the sales tax perhaps and then also decrease the property tax,” said Dennis Maloney, whose property taxes went up 202%. “And I think that would the way to approach the problem."

One Simonton Lake taxpayer agrees.

“Well, naturally we all don't want to pay more tax than we have to, so take as much off as they can,” taxpayer Harry Hostetter said.

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