After putting up a three-year-long struggle, Porter County Assessor John Scott said he is in the process of reaching an agreement with steel producer ArcelorMittal for both parties to withdraw their appeals regarding certain tax assessments for the Mittal Steel plant in Burns Harbor.

Tax attorney Marilyn Meighen, who is representing Scott in the matter, released a statement on Friday saying Scott is willing to withdraw his appeals for the state’s assessment concerning the steel mill in tax years 2007 and 2008 if Mittal agrees not to make any challenges to the 2009 values. Meighen said the agreement will be made to provide stability in the assessment.

Scott met in a closed meeting on Thursday to discuss with attorneys how the state is taxing the Mittal property.

In 2007, the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance was petitioned to assess the steel mill and assessed the real property at $125.5 million in 2007 and $126.6 million in 2008. Scott appealed both assessments subsequently, saying he believes the property should be assessed for $335 million based on market value-in-use, roughly $80,000 per acre instead of $19,000.

Indiana DLGF Communications Specialist Amanda Stanley said the agency assesses the property based on market value-in-use and is the standard for all property assessments in Indiana. Stanley also said the DLGF considers the changes in land value, demolition of and additions to existing structures and current market and trending data which is based on the sale of nearby properties.

In his effort to argue his appeals, Scott has said the $126 million assessment value strips local taxing units of their overall assessed value, causing tax rates to increase.

Mittal had previously appealed the county’s nearly $300 million assessments of the property for several years before the state took over, claiming the figure was “too high.” They later hampered those appeals when the Porter County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals agreed to set the real property value for the mill at $126 million in 2007, saving the county from having to dish out $7 million if the appeals were successful.

After Scott filed his appeals for tax years 2007 and 2008, the state passed H.B. 1001 budget bill in 2009 which tied his hands to an extreme. The legislation made stricter additions to the appeal law requiring county assessors who wish to appeal the state’s assessment to first obtain an estimate of the cost which must be agreed to by the county council. The assessor must also substantiate the value with backing evidence within 30 days or risk denial from the Indiana Board of Tax Review and no further appeals can be filed.

The legislation also sets assessed values in 2006 as base assessments on industrial facilities assessed by the state that cannot be exceeded, which would jeopardize Scott’s 2007 and 2008 appeals.

Scott said he did not know when the agreement for him and ArcelorMittal to withdraw their appeals would come, but is confident it will take place.

Meighen mentioned in her statement that Scott acted in the most responsible way for the benefit of all taxpayers in Porter County by attempting to lower tax rates. Meighen, who is based in Carmel, also represented Scott in his successful appeal of the Jack Gray Company in Portage which ended up paying the county $2.1 million in back taxes.

Posted 3/22/2010