VALPARAISO | State officials are blaming a local error and increases in some local taxes on the big jump some Center Township businesses experienced in the assessed value of their property.

Work continues, however, to determine if there are problems countywide.

Part of the problem discovered in Center Township involves the 2005 commercial property sales that were used to help determine assessed values for tax bills paid in 2007 and 2008, said Mary Jane Michalak, director of communications for the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance.

Only one 2005 sale was reported for the 2007 bills, while five were reported for the 2008 bills, she said. This seems to indicate some "cherry picking" was done to keep the assessed values artificially low for the 2007 bills, which led to the large jump the following year as the correct values were calculated.

Former Center Township Assessor Susan Larson said her office relied on a vendor to assess the commercial property during the years in question.

She declined further comment until seeing the state report.

Michalak said her office also found there were large spending increases by some local units of government during the years in question, which drove up the tax bills.

When these results were reported at the end of last week to state Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso, who sought the investigation, he requested the DLGF take a look to determine if there are problems elsewhere in the county, Michalak said. Those findings are expected by the end of this week, she said.

An estimated 250 to 300 property owners crowded into a meeting room Friday at Strongbow Inn in Valparaiso to share their stories and seek relief from big jumps in their assessed values.

Porter County Assessor John Scott told the group that errors could have been made by his office and encouraged any unhappy property owners to appeal with his office by the April 13 deadline.