New Property Tax Chief To Probe 'Suspicious' Assessments

INDIANAPOLIS -- Gov. Mitch Daniels on Friday appointed a new commissioner of the Department of Local Government Finance and said one of her first tasks will be to investigate what he called "suspicious" property value assessments.

Cheryl Musgrave, president of the Vanderburgh County Commissioners in Evansville, replaces Melissa Henson, who resigned on June 29. Daniels said he wants Musgrave to determine whether soaring property tax bills in some counties were due in part to unfair assessments.

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Capitol WatchBlog: Property Tax Crisis

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The governor has said Marion County's assessment in particular appeared to have undervalued commercial property, unfairly putting more of the tax burden on homeowners. He said Musgrave will decide whether the county's assessment needs to be redone, 6News' Norman Cox reported.

"There's some very suspicious findings that lead to the inference that commercial property was either not looked at all or was under-assessed," Daniels said. "It's too soon to say that, and … I want an expert like Cheryl to determine if that was the case in any county or part of a county."

Daniels said Musgrave, a former county assessor, is the best person to control runaway local spending and find any unfair assessments.

The DLGF oversees more than 2,400 local government taxing units across the state, verifying their budgets and tax rates.

According to estimates last spring, homeowners were expected to see a 24 percent raise in their property taxes this year, but residents in parts of some counties, including Marion County, have seen much higher increases.

Earlier this year, lawmakers approved rebates that were expected to lower the average increase to just less than 8 percent, but the rebates won't be sent until after the year's second installment of property tax bills are mailed in the fall.

Indy Mayoral Hopeful Blasts Peterson's Property Tax Plan

Greg Ballard, Republican candidate for Indianapolis mayor, blasted Mayor Bart Peterson's plan for property tax relief during a news conference on Friday.

Peterson on Thursday announced a plan that would reduce homeowners' property taxes by $75 million over two years, in part by refinancing the county's debt to the state for child welfare and incarceration.

Ballard said refinancing would increase the debt and pass the burden of paying it to future generations.

"I am so angry about this. Indianapolis simply can't afford Bart Peterson anymore. He's had eight years to fix all this stuff, to do the right thing, and he's not," Ballard said. "Now, he's thinking about taxing our sons and our daughters."

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Schellinger on Friday joined Peterson in calling for a special session of the Legislature to address the property tax crisis.

Daniels said he's considering calling a special session but won't commit to it until there's a definite plan to fix the problem and enough committed votes from lawmakers to pass it.

IPS Delaying Projects Because Of Tax Concerns

Indianapolis Public Schools on Friday said it will delay improvements to dozens of schools to ease the burden on people facing skyrocketing property tax bills.

IPS said it will delay the improvements, which would cost $475 million, until state and local governments address homeowners' outrage over property taxes.

Property taxes fund schools. IPS Superintendent Eugene White said the project delays won't reduce this year's property tax bills but would have an impact on next year's.

The projects -- the third phase of IPS' capital improvement plan -- include the introduction of air conditioning to some schools and work on lighting and handicap accessibility.