A fractured Porter County Council took a second shot Wednesday at gutting a county auditor fund, which brought a halt to a crackdown on homestead deduction violators that already has collected $1.6 million.
Councilwoman Karen Conover, R-3rd, who joined the 5-2 vote to gut the fund during the heated special meeting, said a lot of good has been accomplished with the crackdown proceeds, including getting taxes back on track.
What the council is after is greater public accountability, she said, referring to the goal of requiring Porter County Auditor Bob Wichlinski to seek council approval before spending any more of the crackdown proceeds.
The homestead deduction is limited to a taxpayer's primary residence.
Wichlinski, who sat in the audience and tallied the council vote in his role as auditor, did not oppose the reduction of his fund nor the council's 4-3 decision to table his subsequent request for $225,250 of the funding to continue with the homestead crackdown.
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The county commissioners last week approved the consultant contracts to continue with the homestead crackdown, pending funding by the council, according to Wichlinski.
In preparation for the discussion later this month on the funding request, Conover asked Wichlinski for a breakdown on how the crackdown proceeds have been spent so far this year.
Wichlinski has said that after concluding the crackdown on single-family home violators, he now hopes to pursue owners of multi-unit residential buildings. He has identified 800 such properties in suspected violation and had only just began the job of investigating the individual cases and contacting property owners.
