While state officials prefer Porter County stay focused on getting property tax bills out this year, they do not object to a local proposal of speeding up the collection process by sending out an alternative bill next month.
"Requests for payment are a local decision," said Amanda Stanley, communications specialist with the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.
The real obstacle to any approach chosen is the lingering question of what tax software the county will implement in the auditor's and treasurer's offices.
Auditor James Kopp surprised the County Council on Tuesday evening when he announced he favored sticking with the original system purchased for $215,620 from Hamer Enterprises of Texas, which was blamed in a large part for last year's delay in tax bills.
Kopp said Wednesday that Hamer offers more services than the system the county is in the process of replacing it with from L.L. Low Associates of South Bend at a cost of $332,000.
While the advanced features were downplayed during the council meeting, Kopp said they are significant and include Hamer's ability to both work on more than one tax year at a time and automatically attach identification numbers to parcels of land.
Sharon Lippens, director of the county's Information Technologies and Service Department, has said she favors the transition to Low.
The council called a meeting for 5 p.m. Wednesday to further discuss the ongoing delay in tax bills.
Kopp said Wednesday he pitched the idea of sending out "requests for payment" sometime between July 1 and 15 because it would be the quickest way to get money to the various taxing units, which are suffering in various ways because of the continued delays.
He said the county could collect about half the revenue due and distribute it to the various taxing units within about 30 days. Those units then would be asked to return the money at the point when the actual tax collection is complete, at which time they would receive their full amount of revenue for the year.
In response to the concern voiced by the DLGF, Kopp said this process would not interfere with efforts to get the tax bills back on track.
While counties across the state are experiencing delays as a result of the new approach at calculating property taxes, Porter County remains near the back of the pack, according to progress tracked by the DLGF at www.in.gov/dlgf/files/2009_Cert_Status.pdf.
