CROWN POINT | Former Calumet Township Assessor Booker Blumenberg may be unhappy with high taxes on his Gary home because its real estate value was poorly assessed -- by his own employee.
County Assessor Hank Adams said Blumenberg only has himself to blame since the assessment was the result of Blumenberg's own work. Voters elected Blumenberg to assess all homes and businesses in Gary, Griffith and unincorporated Calumet Township from 1990 until he left office last month.
Members of the Lake County Tax Assessment Board of Appeals expressed astonishment at their Friday meeting over Blumenberg's letter protesting that the assessed value of his residence was "improperly derived and applied contrary to ... state law."
County records indicate Blumenberg's home is worth more than $182,000 and that his tax bill last year was $3,979, although he didn't pay it. His total tax delinquency from previous years is more than $9,900.
Adams said of Blumenberg's complaint, "He's apparently saying he did everything wrong. He was the township assessor. Why would he (as taxpayer) disapprove of what he approved (as township assessor)?"
Blumenberg, who didn't appear at the meeting, didn't return a telephone call Friday seeking comment. Board members postponed action on the matter.
Blumenberg survived a state-directed 2008 referendum campaign to abolish his office with an overwhelming show of support from Gary voters, only to suffer the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance taking over his duties in 2009 after criticizing the quality of work by Blumenberg's office.
A Times investigation found Blumenberg didn't lack training opportunities. He cost taxpayers at least $68,600 in travel reimbursements -- the second-highest total of any Lake County individual over the past decade -- to attend professional conferences, including training seminars at Walt Disney World Resorts in August 2009 and Miami the following month that cost several thousands of dollars alone.
Adams also said he may complain to the Indiana attorney general's office and the FBI about widely different appraisals of Gamba Ristorante, an Italian-themed restaurant on 84th Drive in Merrillville that is appealing its assessment, which the county wants to set at more than $2.2 million.
Rex Hume, a tax representative for Gamba, said a June 2005 appraisal to obtain a bank loan valued the business at $3.1 million. A second appraisal, conducted by a different appraiser to appeal the taxes, arrived at a value of $1.9 million.
Hume said there are legitimate reasons for the differences, which result from the earlier appraisal being based on the restaurant's potential earnings and the second on its actual earnings.
