Porter County has mailed out about 5,800 refund checks to property owners who overpaid their 2008 tax, when they came in before the end of the year and paid before the actual bills were ready.

Property owners likely wanted to pay their tax before Dec. 31 in order to claim the full amount on their state and federal tax returns. However, because the final bills weren’t yet ready, property owners who paid before the end of the year paid only estimated amounts.

In some cases, property owners had a balance due when the final tax bills were mailed in mid-February.

But in other cases, they overpaid.

A legal notice appears beginning on page 7 of today’s Chesterton Tribune of claims, which are actually the refund checks and the amounts that Porter County had to mail out. The checks were mailed last Friday, said Porter County Auditor Jim Kopp.

The treasurer’s office is working on another round of surplus payments for those who paid their estimated taxes after Dec. 31 but before the final tax bills went out, he said.

Posted 5/8/2009