The Monroe County Community School Corp. is working to recoup
some of the revenue it — along with other local tax units — lost because of a
property tax calculation error the county auditor’s office made.
In mid-April, a mistake was discovered that would result in more
than $990,000 in lost revenue to the county’s two school districts, Monroe
County and Bloomington governments, townships, the public library, the waste
management district and the Perry-Clear Creek Fire District.
A few weeks earlier, the Indiana Department of Revenue announced
it had miscalculated local income tax distributions to counties that collect
them, and that tax units in Monroe would get $6.6 million more than they were
expecting in revenues for 2012, as well as a catch-up for 2011 income taxes
that were under-distributed.
That error correction will be distributed among Bloomington,
Ellettsville, Stinesville and county governments, all 11 townships in the
county, Bloomington Transit, the public library and Perry-Clear Creek
firefighters. That more than cushioned the impact of the revenue they would
lose from the auditor’s office error that would be discovered two weeks later.
But the school districts and the solid waste district don’t
receive money from local income taxes, and got no such cushion.
MCCSC took the biggest hit from the auditor’s error, losing a
total of $338,055, including a $106,544 loss to its capital projects fund;
$67,917 in the referendum fund; $99,298 in debt services fund; $45,975 in the
transportation operating fund; $9,644 in the bus replacement fund, and $8,674
in the retirement fund.
“The loss of the revenue will have a substantial impact on
MCCSC,” said Tim Thrasher, comptroller for the Monroe County Community School
Corp.
Per state statute, the only funds the district can appeal to
recover are the transportation operating fund and the general fund, which was
not affected by the error. Thrasher said he will recommend to the school board
to appeal for recovery of the $46,000 loss from the transportation fund. If approved,
however, that will result in a 2013 tax rate increase of .08 cents to property
owners who live within the school district.
…
The error cost Bloomington city government $377,930 in revenue
from the roughly $26.6 million in property taxes it expected to receive this
year.
City Controller Mike Trexler said the city intends to file for
an excess levy to recoup those lost funds next year.
In the meantime, the city will make up for the missing money
using its reserve funds, Trexler said. The roughly $2.5 million in County
Option Income Tax funds inappropriately withheld by the state will help, but
even without that windfall the city would have had the reserves to cover the
shortfall, he said.
…
County government lost $174,292 in revenue. But the COIT error
correction meant $2.5 million in unexpected revenue, more than offsetting the
auditor’s office error. Still, the $174,000 was money the county coffers should
have collected, and the county council could opt to appeal the error, allowing
a slightly higher tax rate next year to recoup the loss.
…
The Monroe County Public Library took a $42,903 revenue hit from
the auditor’s error.
Although it more than made up the loss with more than $600,000
from the income tax redistribution, the library plans to file an appeal to
recover the lost revenue in 2013, said library financial officer Gary
Lettelleir and director Sara Laughlin.
…
