Taxpayers question rates

BROWNSTOWN - Some Jackson County residents living near Seymour have asked county officials to take another look at a decision several years ago that has led to what they say is a disparity in property tax bills.

"I don't think anybody saw the disparity at the time," John Baker told county council members during their meeting at the Courthouse annex Wednesday.

"We would like you to revisit the situation," said Baker, who lives in Redding Township.

The decision Baker was referring to was made by the council several years ago and concerns replacement of the inventory tax, eliminated by the state, with an increase in the county economic development income tax.

EDIT revenues are credited to property owners to reduce property tax bills based upon the loss of inventory in the district where their property is located. The state also gave the council the option of spreading the distribution of EDIT revenues equally throughout the county.

And there was a third option, doing nothing, said Frank Cummings, a former county councilman who also worked for the Indiana State Tax Board (now Department of Local Government Finance).

"At that time, I thought we should not eliminate the tax," Cummings said. The state gave its 92 counties several years to eliminate the tax and replace it with the additional EDIT taxes before the state abolished it in 2007.

Cummings said he advocated doing nothing, letting the state eliminate the inventory tax and then letting property tax rates settle down.

The decision to eliminate the inventory tax occurred in the last month or two of Cummings' term, and he said his decision not to run for another term was made in part because of the inventory tax issue.

He also said the decision to replace the revenue lost by elimination of the inventory tax was not fair because people who live in areas such as Salt Creek Township must pay the income tax even though there is no inventory in that area.

Cummings, who lives in Snyde Acres, just west of Seymour, said he compared his bill with the property tax bill of his son, Reuben, who lives in Seymour, and was surprised by the difference.
But overall, his property tax bill still went down this year as did those of many other people in the county, Cummings said.

The state also told Jackson County it was one of three in the state where the 0.25 increase in EDIT would not replace the lost income from the elimination of the inventory tax, Cummings said. That meant other counties could adopt smaller EDIT taxes to replace lost revenue.

Baker said he has the same property tax rate as property owners in the city but is paying 128 percent more in property taxes for a home in the city with an assessed valuation higher than his own.

The property tax bill for his residence, which has an assessed valuation of $141,000, is $693.72, while a property inside the city limits with an assessed valuation of $166,000 has a property tax bill of $331.60, Baker said.

Bill Lasater, who lives on Hoover Drive in Jackson Township, also spoke about the issue Wednesday.

"Jackson County has approximately 40,000 population with Seymour having approximately 18,000 of that total," Lasater said. "With Seymour having less than one-half of the total population in our county, I have an issue with the fairness of the distribution of this county economic development income tax.

"The real property owners of all the townships in Jackson County are paying an unfair higher property tax than Seymour and are not provided the city services of police, fire, garbage pickup and other services."

Lasater said the tax bill for a residence in Jackson Township with an assessed valuation of $150,600 was $688.24 a year or $409.32 more than a residence in Seymour with an assessed valuation of $150,000.

Lasater said about 95 percent of the funds collected through the increase in the EDIT tax goes back to Seymour property owners as replacement credit on their property tax bills.

Councilman Andy Fountain said he was not aware of the disparity in bills because of the council's decision to distribute EDIT revenues based upon inventory loss instead of countywide.

At the time, Seymour and Jackson Township had the most loss because that's where most of the inventory is located, Fountain said.

Fountain also said the state Department of Local Government Finance calculates property tax rates.

"It's calculated on the amount of inventory lost in each district," he said.

Both Fountain and Councilman Brian Thompson said the council needs to re-examine the issue to see if the state would even allow it to be reversed.

Fountain, who lives in the Brownstown area, said he appreciated people bringing the issue to the attention of council.

"I'd never known about these kinds of discrepancies before tonight, because I don't live there," he said.

Council President Charlie Murphy, who lives in the Seymour area, said he saw the need for addressing the issue.

"I just don't know what we can do (about it) yet," Murphy said.

Susie Rohr, who lives in Snyde Acres, also questioned the disparity.

Councilman Greg Prange asked Rohr if she objected to being annexed by the city so she could obtain the benefits of services provided to other Seymour residents.

Rohr said that's an option she might consider.