Saturday, November 30, 2013

Times Reports Lake County Auditor Gives Property Owners Last Chance to Avoid Hefty Property Tax Increase

From the Northwest Indiana Times:

The Lake County Auditor's Department office is reaching out one last time to thousands of homeowners about to lose a valuable property tax deduction.

Auditor Peggy Katona said her office is sending letters to 10,000 county residents whose homestead credits the state is about to revoke because the homeowners failed to provide identification needed to verify their ownership status.

She said those owners have until Dec. 31 to respond by going online to www.taxpayerconnection.com. The homeowners must fill out a state form noting their Social Security or state driver's license numbers or expect their property taxes to be significantly higher next year.

This is the last of a several-year effort to eliminate invalid homestead deductions, which illegally increase taxes on law-abiding residents.

The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance reported homestead deductions have become a target of fraud because they are so valuable and in short supply.

The deductions benefit homeowners by reducing a property's assessed value -- in many cases by more than half its market value up to a maximum of $645,000 -- and capping taxes at no more than 1 percent of the reduced assessed value in most Indiana counties.

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See the full article here:

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/auditor-gives-some-taxpayers-last-chance-to-avoid-hefty-increase/article_a41bd4f5-d29b-53e5-b58e-54fed146f2db.html