By VICKI URBANIK

The state’s new tax law will transfer the duties of property assessing to county assessors throughout Indiana, but locally, officials have plenty of questions about the details and how exactly the transfer will be carried out.

Some of those questions might be answered today at a meeting in Indianapolis with county assessors. Porter County Assessor John Scott planned to attend.

The new law, House Enrolled Act 1001, calls for county assessors to take over the assessing duties for township assessors, effective this July 1. In addition to the transition in budgets, the transfer is raising concerns about how this year’s tax bills might be impacted.

The new law’s summary and various analyses seem to agree that the July 1 takeover will apply to all township assessors, except those in townships with more than 15,000 parcels, which in Porter County are Portage and Center townships. In those cases, voters will get to decide if they want to keep their township assessors in a referendum this November.

But some details in the law are raising different interpretations. A fiscal impact statement suggests that the upcoming takeover applies just to assessors who also serve as township trustees, such as those in Jackson and Pine townships, while the duties of the other assessors, such as Westchester’s and Liberty’s, wouldn’t be transferred fully to the county until after 2009. One section in the law specifically states that assessors are “entitled” to stay in office through the end of their terms -- or 2010 -- for the sole purpose of assisting the county asessor “in the transfer of records and operations from the township assessor to the county assessor.”

On Monday, Scott said he still needs more clarification, but that his understanding at this time is that his office will assume the assessing duties of the trustee/assessors. The positions of the other assessors will also be eliminated, but that as individuals, they would be able to stay on working for his department to ensure a smooth transition.

He said he doesn’t think that the now-elected assessors who would begin working in his office would automatically get paid the same as they are now, but that their pay would be tied to the duties they perform.

“The amount of money they would be receiving will be controlled by the council,” he said.

County Council Attorney Dave Hollenbeck and County Council President Robert Poparad, D-1st, both said that they, too, need more information because they have heard mixed stories.

If the assessors are “entitled” to stay on, as the law states, Poparad questioned why one part of the law seems to give the county assessors the authority to interview and hire whom they deem appropriate. “We don’t know the answers because we don’t even know the questions,” he said.

Other questions that county and township officials have raised about the transition include: Just who and how many will be hired by the county assessor’s office, will they work in the county administration center or in satellite offices, will people who are now employed full-time get only part-time jobs and vice-versa, and will the upcoming transition worsen morale among assessors and will the transition further delay getting this year’s tax bills done.

Because this year’s tax bills are already late, the Porter County Council has authorized the issuance of provisional bills in May, which would be based on what was billed last year. This year’s tax bills for homeowners are expected to drop due mainly to an additional state homestead credit. The actual 2008 tax bills will be reconciled later when the final bills are ready.

Westchester Township Assessor Candy Crone said at this point, she has been given no official information about whether she and her staff will have a job come July 1. “We’re just kind of waiting,” she said.

“It’s a shame that they’re able to pass a bill and no one seems to know what it means,” she said.

Scott reiterated that he isn’t interested in a wholesale replacement of assessing staff, due to the need for a smooth transition. “I don’t think they (state legislators) thought about the magnitude of starting all over again with new assessors,” he said.

Posted 4/1/2008