Making it clear that they don’t want another year of tax bill delays, Porter County Council members on Tuesday approved $10,000 in added overtime pay for county auditor employees to prepare the 2009 bills.

“We have got to get these tax bills out,” said Porter County Council member Dan Whitten, D-at large, who made the motion to approve the overtime, bringing the total budgeted so far this year for overtime in the auditor’s office to $15,000.

Whitten said the council needs to do more to assist the auditor, assessor, and treasurer offices with their tax bill work, calling the prospect of another year of delayed bills “nothing short of nauseating.”

According to Porter County Auditor Jim Kopp and the Information Technology Services department, the tax bills for 2008 went out on Monday and Tuesday of this week, the most delayed that the bills have been in recent memory. Normally, they would have been due Nov. 10.

Kopp is projecting that the first installment of tax bills for 2009 will go out in July or August. In a “normal” tax year, the first installment is due May 10.

Kopp said before his office can work on the pay-’09 bills, he needs assessment data that normally would have been ready by last summer. County Assessor John Scott said that because everything else with the tax work has been delayed, his office has also been delayed and that he expects to roll over the assessment data in mid to late March.

Kopp said once he gets those figures, his office will need 14 to 17 weeks to complete the tax bill work.

The extra overtime is needed because the auditor’s office is trying to get its work done over the course of just a few months when normally the process takes 10 months or so, Kopp said.

County employees get overtime for hours worked beyond the standard 35-hour work week, with time and a half pay kicking in after 40 hours, according to Kopp. At their current salary levels, the overtime pay for auditor employees ranges from about $14 to $23 an hour, with time and a half at the $21 to $35 per hour range.

When asked by Council President Robert Poparad, D-at large, if the added overtime would suffice, Kopp said he doesn’t know how much will eventually be needed.

The motion to approve the overtime passed unanimously, though council member Karen Conover, R-3rd, said she was voting yes reluctantly.

Conover said she agrees with the need to get the tax bills out, but that the council has been working with all departments involved but the work is still behind schedule. On the other hand, she said that the delays are due to a variety of problems and that it’s no one individual’s fault.

Council member Sylvia Graham, D-at large, said that no one is happy about the delays but that the council does have the obligation to do what’s necessary to get the bills done. “People are demanding it as well,” added council member Mike Bucko, D-4th.

The overtime pay was granted as an additional appropriation. But because the state will not release such appropriations until after the 2009 budgets are finalized, the money is not expected to be available until sometime this fall. Because of that, the council also approved a budget transfer releasing the funds, with the understanding that the $10,000 will be returned to the regular budget line item once the appropriation is finalized.

Also Tuesday, the council unanimously passed a resolution opposing any effort to consolidate the Porter County Convention Recreation and Visitor Commission with Lake County’s tourism bureau.

The resolution, presented by Graham, is similar to the one passed last week by the county commissioners.

Graham, who previously served on the PCCRVC Board, called the tourism agency a “tremendous” asset. And contrary to those who say that county identification doesn’t matter to tourists, Graham said in her extensive travels as a champion angler, she has always appreciated knowing the different counties she visited.

Whitten blasted the notion of “regionalism” inherent in the idea of merging the tourism agencies or consolidating other offices.

“Regionalism is a great big fancy word for our money going someplace else,” Whitten said.

By a 6-1 vote, the council appointed Bucko to the newly created Porter County Redevelopment Advisory Commission, which will advise the county commissioners on development issues in the unincorporated areas.

Council member Rita Stevenson, D-2nd, was the only one who voted no. She said she feels that the council should have had at least one other member to choose from.

The council gets another appointment to the RDC, but council members said this appointment will represent the general public. Interested individuals can apply at the council office, 465-3332.

Posted 2/25/2009