INDIANAPOLIS -- A sense of impending trouble permeates Marion County property owners as they await tax bills that are likely to be significantly higher than last year.

Bills are expected to be mailed by the end of the week, and many people will be paying a lot more each year, 6News' Dan Spehler reported.

Property tax has become a hot topic in Indiana, with owners expected to see an average increase as high as 24 percent.

The topic has been lighting up the phones at Newstalk 1430 WXNT, where 6News political analyst Abdul Hakim-Shabazz hosts a morning talk show.

"Everybody, right now, is just bracing themselves," Hakim-Shabazz said. "Nobody knows exactly what the number is going to be."

Franklin Township assessor Becky Williams said the phones have been busy in her offices as residents await the potentially bad news.

"We're getting a lot of calls just basically wanting to know when," Williams said. "Last word I heard, they're going to try to get them out Friday and they would be due back by the 27th of July."

Williams said assessors have asked Indianapolis Metro police to help patrol offices to curb angry taxpayers who want to take their venting too far.

Some residents, especially those on fixed incomes, said they don't know how they will be able to afford their homes if tax increases are anything like what is being projected.

"I'm worried, too, because my taxes on this house have quadrupled or five times since I moved in here," said Herman Wood. "That's 30 years, but … there should be a limit somewhere."

Indiana has more foreclosures than most other states, and a tax increase might force many Hoosiers already teetering on the edge over the cliff.

The Marion County Treasurer's Office said they were too busy to talk with 6News Monday.

Thanks to a bill that the Legislature passed this year, the state will give property tax rebates to payers -- an action that is expected to effectively lower the average 24 percent increase to about 9 percent.

Taxpayers must pay their bills in full and receive the rebates later. The rebates were supposed to be mailed in November, but county treasurers said that estimate is probably too soon, Cox reported.

The counties won't receive tax money from the state until November. They'll need to calculate who gets what kind of rebate after that, so people probably won't receive the rebates until January or February, county treasurers said.