CROWN POINT | Three of Lake County's six remaining township assessors prefer running their own property reassessments rather than letting a private contractor do it.

Lake County Attorney John Dull gathered the township officials Wednesday to ask whether they were opting in or out of a job that will involve scores of field examiners doing an across-the-board review of the county's 247,000 real estate parcels and its buildings to measure the rise and fall of property values.

Representatives for Calumet Township Assessor Booker Blumenburg Jr., Ross Township Assessor Randall Guernsey and St. John Township Assessor Hank Adams said they want their staffs to the do the job.

Dull warned the three townships the state may veto their choice and force them to join the rest of the county, which will hire a private contractor to conduct the reassessment, which is set to begin this summer.

The last reassessment, in 2002 by Ohio-based Cole Layer Trumble, cost county taxpayers $18 million and resulted in tax bills more than doubling for tens of thousands of property owners in Gary, Hammond, East Chicago and Whiting.

County officials complained the private contractor, chosen by the state, did a poor job, and the public outrage was measured in the more than 27,800 appeals property owners filed. County officials said half of the appeals resulted in findings of error and a reduction of property value assessments.

But state officials complained many Lake County township assessors systematically undervalued residential properties -- shifting the tax burden to business -- to curry favor with voters.

The controversy sparked a taxpayer revolt that resulted in local officials establishing a circuit-breaker system that caps taxes on homesteads. However, caps can't prevent taxes from increasing if the next reassessment boosts property values.