In the wake of a heated debate over the lack of pay raises for Porter County employees next year, County Auditor Bob Wichlinski is attracting attention with his plan to significantly increase overtime pay in his 2013 budget.
Wichlinski has set aside $86,000 next year for overtime, as compared to $35,000 this year, according to the County Council office.
Next year's overtime pay will be taken from the money collected from homestead violators and not from the county's general fund, which is made up of tax money, Wichlinski said. This homestead fund has a balance of $1 million.
Wichlinski said the additional funding is needed because his office is moving into a more complex area of the crackdown on property owners illegally benefiting from the homestead credit.
The effort, which had collected nearly $1.6 million from violators as of September, now is focusing on multiunit residential buildings, Wichlinski said. The violations involve owners who live in their multiunit buildings and have been receiving a homestead credit on their entire structure rather than just the portion that makes up their primary residence, he said.
This second step in the crackdown will involve a lot more work than the original focus on single-family homes, Wichlinski said.
Wichlinski said half or more of the overtime money could wind up being shared with the county treasurer's office and county and Portage Township assessors' offices.
The assessors' offices will have the additional task of updating their record cards, he said. The treasurer's office will wind up with extra work as well if tax bills need to be altered to collect from those unwilling to pay for their violations.
The auditor's office has spent $4,798 of the $5,000 set aside in this year's general fund for overtime, according to the council office. Another $30,000 was set aside in the homestead credit violation fund, of which $11,427 had been spent as of this week.
