HAMMOND | School officials believe a new bill that caps property taxes should financially favor efforts to build a new high school.
School Superintendent Walter Watkins said fears about the cost of a new high school and the renovation of Gavit Middle School "are unfounded" because of the new legislation capping a homeowner's tax bill at 1 percent of a home's assessed valuation.
"Some have received false information about the cost of our projects to taxpayers," Watkins said. "The figures illustrate that even with our construction projects, Hammond taxpayers will actually see a property tax reduction."
The district's analysts and attorneys profiled costs based on December tax bills.
Figures showed a $50,000 home required the owner to pay a tax bill of $908. Under the new law and with the new bond issue, the owner's bill decreases to $423 , or 47 percent of the present bill.
A tax bill recorded for a home assessed at $100,000 was $2,148 in 2007. The new, lower amount shows a 63 percent decrease to $788, the record showed.
Residents with homes carrying a market value of $200,000 in December received a tax bill for $6,279, but they could expect a 49 percent decrease to $3,204.
School Financial Administrator Karen Wallisch said the bill, which was approved in March and signed into law by Gov. Mitch Daniels, goes into effect in 2010, simultaneous with the $106.7 million school bond issue.
School officials are locked in at $75.5 million for the new high school, earmarked from a 2001 state hearing that approved $213 million to renovate five grammar schools, build a new structure combining Hammond and Gavit high schools, and reconfigure Gavit into a middle school.
To bring the existing 92-year-old Hammond High School up to today's educational programming and safety requirements would cost $95.3 million, consultants estimate, nearly $20 million more than the state-capped figure.
On Thursday, a team of school leaders and consultants will present the long-awaited project before the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance at 9:50 a.m.
Residents who support or oppose the new school can attend the 30-minute presentation in the Indiana Government Center South, Conference Room A, 302 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, Wallisch said.
