By VICKI URBANIK

In a sort of a repeat of last year, towns, schools and other local taxing units are not expected to get their 2008 budgets approved until late in the year.

But unlike last year, the delay shouldn’t force taxing units to borrow to the extent they did last year, since Porter County is planning to issue provisional bills in or about May.

Porter County Auditor Jim Kopp told the county council Thursday that he has been informed by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance that the state will not begin to approve local budgets until after it gets more certified assessed values from the counties. So far, only 11 counties, not including Porter County, have submitted that information.

Kopp said the speculation is that Porter County’s taxing units won’t have their budgets finalized until October or November.

Normally, the DLGF finalizes local government budgets either early in the same budget year or late in the preceding year.

For county government, the lack of an approved budget will mean a delay in knowing when, or even if, the state will allow additional appropriations, or expenses that weren’t included in the regular budgets.

This issue came up a few times at Thursday’s council meeting. Porter County Superior Court Judge Roger Bradford won council approval for an additional appropriation for $20,000 to purchase law books. But then council members noted that it won’t be known until this fall if the state will even allow that purchase.

Similarly, the council granted Porter County Clerk Pam Fish a budget transfer of $25,000 from her salary line item for overtime. Last month, the council granted an additional appropriation for Fish to create new two deputy positions, but because the state won’t sign off on that spending for months, she returned for the overtime money Thursday.

Fish had a separate request before the council for an additional appropriation of $20,000 for overtime for the Voter Registration Office. The council granted a budget transfer of that same amount, but opted not to act on the separate additional appropriation since it won’t get approved by the state any time soon.

Last year, the property tax delays forced many taxing units, like towns and schools to borrow more than usual in order to keep operating.

That same situation should be averted this year, since Porter County Council has decided to issue provisional tax bills in or about May. Those bills will be based on the final 2007 tax bills, with the first installment representing 45 percent of the total due in 2007.

Porter County Treasurer Jim Murphy, however, warned the council that the due date for the provisional bills cannot be May 10 as normal, since the state will require a 45-day window for taxpayers to pay after the bills first come out. Normally, if the budget process goes smoothly, the tax bills can be due 15 days after they are sent out.

The 45-day pay period will likely mean that the provisional bills will be due in late June, Murphy said.

The county will have to reconcile the provisional bills with the actual 2008 bills. Murphy cautioned that this will be a difficult process, because of new provisions affecting the 2008 bills that weren’t in place last year.

Posted 3/24/2008