INDIANAPOLIS | Homeowners would get a one-year window to pay delinquent property taxes without interest or penalties under a measure being considered by state lawmakers.

House Bill 1301 would extend amnesty to residential or commercial taxpayers whose property is subject to tax sale because of unpaid taxes.

"The recommendation for this bill came from the Lake County treasurer, Mr. (John) Petalas," Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, said Monday. "People are having difficulties with the economy just keeping their properties."

In Lake County alone, 31,504 properties owing $129 million in taxes and penalties would be eligible for amnesty, according to a letter Petalas sent to legislators.

The legislation, up for a vote today by the House Ways and Means Committee, would require all 92 counties to offer the amnesty period, which would begin in July and run through June 2010.

"Things may not be as bad in Wells County as they are in Lake County," Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale, objected during a hearing Monday.

But Ways and Means Chairman William Crawford, D-Indianapolis, said making the amnesty optional by county could invite an unequal treatment lawsuit.

Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, said Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels won 2005 legislation creating a state amnesty period that brought in $244 million, or four times the initial projections.