From the LaPorte Herald-Argus:
A bill aiming to end the property tax situation in La Porte has been signed into law.
State Rep. Tom Dermody, R-La Porte, said the new legislation will allow the county to send out its first real tax bill in years and stop the provisional bills, which residents have been receiving since 2007.
"The La Porte property tax dilemma is over, the fiasco is done,"Dermody said during a phone interview on Tuesday. "Residents will receive one (real) bill this fall and La Porte County will, by the end of this year, be caught up like every other county in the state."
He said the bill also gives the La Porte County Council the opportunity to enact more protections for tax payers, including a six month extension on bill payments and a 2 percent discount if taxes are paid on time.
As explained in a previous article, the legislation was necessitated because county officials were not expected to complete their assessments by April 1, which is required if the county wants to send out a real tax bill. The law allows county officials to send out one bill in the fall instead of two over the course of a year.
"With 91 out of 92 counties up-to-date on their property taxes, it is time that La Porte County joins the rest of the state on this issue," Dermody said in a press release. "In hopes of resolving this situation by 2014, I have authored House Bill 1261 to protect La Porte County taxpayers by offering flexible repayment options and plans, while incentivizing individuals to make early or on-time payments."
According to a previous article in The Herald-Argus, local municipalities and school corporations have reported losing more than $42 million due to unpaid and underpaid tax bills, and about $1.2 million due to interest payments on loans to make up for the lost funds. Not all entities contributed numbers to these totals.
http://heraldargus.com/articles/2013/04/03/news/local/doc515b724c691ec899087162.txt
