EAST CHICAGO | Lake County and North Township tax officials were debating Monday where the blame lies for another tax assessment error, this one involving Resorts East Chicago casino.
Margot Miller, chief deputy to Township Assessor John Matonovich, said Monday someone improperly enlarged a legitimate tax break the casino enjoys, called a tax abatement.
She said her office is working to reduce that erroneous abatement from $93 million. Miller said the auditor's office is responsible for overseeing the matter.
Lake County Auditor Peggy Holinga Katona and James Bennett, a fiscal consultant for East Chicago and county officials, said Monday a mistake was made because of misinformation provided by the township.
Bennett said, "The (wrong) assessment was used, but that was the number the township assessor gave them in the auditor's office," he said. Miller couldn't be reached late Monday to respond to Bennett.
He said the error, which only applies to 2006 taxes payable in 2007, will be corrected, but even if it results in the casino paying more taxes, it won't be a windfall reducing residents' future tax bills.
Taxes generated by the casino are retained in a tax increment financing, or TIF, district. The money is supposed to be earmarked for economic development of blighted areas within the city.
Reggie Dotson, a spokesman for Resorts, said Monday the casino is appealing its taxes.
The dispute comes one month after the township office admitted responsibility for an assessment error involving the ArcelorMittal steel plant that could result in an estimated shortfall in East Chicago's tax revenue of as much as $11.5 million.
Bennett said the assessment of the casino is complex because of the various tax breaks surrounding it and last year's reassessment, which more than tripled the casino's value for tax purposes.
He said the abatement, which reduces taxes by a decreasing amount each year, should only apply to part of the casino complex but was erroneously calculated for all casino properties.
"They gave us the whole parcel without breaking out the original abated area. Now everybody has agreed that it is wrong. The comedy continues," Bennett said.
