VALPARAISO | One day after the state approved Porter County property tax rates, it was discovered a local homestead credit was left out of the equation.
The discovery left state and local officials scrambling Thursday to correct the error in hope of staying on track to mail out bills during the first week of December.
"It's a burp," Porter County Auditor James Kopp said of the state's error.
Kopp, who along with other county officials and consultants have been meeting weekly to get the local tax bills back on schedule, said the state error will result in about a day and a half delay. There was extra time built into the billing schedule, he said, but the county has yet to run the final figures through its new software.
"At this point, there are too many unknowns," he said about the early December target date.
"I don't want to put these things out wrong and send out a bunch of corrected bills," Kopp said.
Mary Jane Michalak, director of communications for Indiana Department of Local Government, which is responsible for the error, said her office hoped to correct the problem by Friday.
The online tax calculator at www.in.gov/dlgf/4932.htm will be corrected once the new rates are available, she said.
Kopp has said he hopes to mail out the tax bills by about Dec. 5, with payments due Dec. 22 -- in time for homeowners to deduct property taxes on income tax returns.
However, taxpayers in Beverly Shores, Pine Township and the Town of Pines -- areas served by Michigan City schools -- are at the mercy of LaPorte County officials. Kopp said taxpayers in those areas should not expect to receive final 2008 tax bills until early next year.
Indiana adopted a new real estate appraisal system last year. The overhaul has led to continued delays in preparing tax bills and prompted finger-pointing between state and local officials.
In a typical year, bills go out in April, with installment payments due in May and November. This year, Porter County property owners in June received provisional bills that estimated the first half of their annual tax liability.
Porter County hired consultants to help work through the delays and installed a new computer system. Kopp said the goal is to have 2009 bills figured out by June.
