As they keep up the pressure on getting this year’s property tax bills out, Porter County Council members heard a generally positive update Thursday.

The delayed 2008 tax bills for three Pine Township tax districts are on track to go out by the end of this month, and the county’s new tax software system may go “live” today.

With those two big hurdles cleared, the county should be able to issue this year’s bills sometime late this summer, Porter County Council President Robert Poparad, D-1st, said at the end of Thursday’s special council meeting, the second in as many weeks.

Representatives from the financial consulting firm of Crowe Chizek and from the county’s new tax vendor, Low Associates, assisted the county on Thursday with the tax bill work, including making the transition from the previous tax software to the new system.

Information Technology Services Director Sharon Lippens said the newly entered data doesn’t balance with the county’s tax abstract, due to corrections in the figures, but that the amount is off by only about $600,000. Given that the county has more than $180 million in tax billing, the numbers are pretty close, she said.

To get the numbers in balance, Lippens said the Crowe consultant is analyzing the tax abstract parcel by parcel to pinpoint the differences.

One glitch that surfaced Thursday involved the possible need to acquire additional software licenses. Porter County Auditor Jim Kopp said his office will use the county recorder’s software to complete the work on property transfers, but that because the recorder has a different software system, the county doesn’t have enough licenses.

Poparad questioned why the licensing issue wasn’t brought up earlier, and Lippens said she doesn’t know why the recorder’s software is needed. Kopp said he’s certain the issue will get resolved today.

“Don’t call me. Just get it done,” Poparad said at one point.

Much of Thursday’s relatively brief council meeting reviewed progress with the schedule hashed out last week, when county council members unleashed their frustration over this year’s late tax bills and threatened to cut budgets and hire new people in order to get the work done.

Rather than delay the process more, the state has decided to certify rates based on the certified assessed values from tax bills payable in 2006 in LaPorte County. A legal notice listing the Pine Township rates appears in today’s Chesterton Tribune.

Once the Pine Township billing is done, Porter County will be able to complete the ‘08 tax settlement work by the end of July, a necessary step in order to secure a budget order for the ’09 billing. The county is also waiting on state approval for its ratio study, which is also needed for the ‘09 billing.

At the same time, the county will begin training on its new tax software today, and on Monday, the county assessor’s office will send six of its staff to the auditor’s office to help with a backlog of property splits and transfers.

Still undecided is whether the county will issue actual 2009 bills or provisional bills based on last year’s figures. Adjustments in the Low system might be needed for provisional bills, but what the work would entail is unknown at this point.

The council expects to hear another update at its next regular meeting, June 23.

As of Thursday, 49 of Indiana’s 92 counties have sent out their 2009 tax bills. Five counties are still in the first or second step -- Porter, LaPorte, St. Joseph, Marion, and Brown counties.

Posted 6/12/2009