CROWN POINT | Lake County's final 2008 property tax bills won't be going into the mail until early next year.

But property owners who need to pay their bills before Dec. 31 to qualify for income tax deductions are being urged to go to the county treasurer's office and prepay.

Michael Wieser, director of finance for the county auditor's office, said Monday a nine-month delay in property reassessments is causing the latest problem that is affecting all 92 Indiana counties.

The tardy tax bills won't be a problem for homeowners who pay property taxes through escrow accounts with their lending institutions as the county will notify banks of the tax amounts in time for the federal deductions, Lake County Treasurer John Petalas said.

However, the late bills could be a problem for thousands of local property owners who personally pay their taxes and need to do so before year's end to claim deductions on state and federal income tax forms.

"The (tax bill) numbers are inside our computer," Petalas said Monday. "If people want to pay by Dec. 31, all they have to do is show up at the office, and we will calculate their bill for them."

Stephanie McFarland, public relations director for the Indiana Department of Revenue, and Jodie Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the Indiana region of the Internal Revenue Service, confirmed that strategy.

"If the treasurer can print you out a bill there that says this is your due amount and you pay it in 2008, its deductible," Reynolds said.

Petalas said county officials aren't to blame for the late bills.

"Yelling at me is like yelling at the mailman for bringing you a NIPSCO bill that was too high," he said.

Tardy tax bills have been a continuing problem since the state began requiring local assessors to adjust property values for taxing purposes annually because of changes in real estate market valuations.

The county mailed provisional bills in early October so property owners could pay half their taxes, but the state didn't release the tax rates on which the final bills are based until last month.

Nevertheless, County Auditor Peggy Holinga Katona said that since her office received tax data from the state, her staff has been working diligently, and the county is on track to mail the final installment in early to mid-January. The payments would be due in early February.

Last year's final tax bills weren't mailed until January 2008.

McFarland and Reynolds said property tax payments made last January for 2007 can be counted toward deductions on upcoming state and federal income tax forms.