Two in a Row

5. June 2008 by Greg Kelver.

When it comes to taxing and spending decisions, LaPorte County Taxpayers don’t usually get to see our government make two good decisions in a row.  But thanks to a little help from the DLGF, elected and appointed officials have actually put together back-to-back good decisions for LaPorte County. First, the DLGF ordered the reassessment of all residential, commercial, and industrial property in LaPorte County  http://www.in.gov/dlgf/files/NewsRelease-DLGForders-LaPorteCountytoReassessForPay2007.pdf  With the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, I think that the DLGF made some major mistakes that helped create the current mess that LaPorte County has now.  But massive amounts of new information has come to their attention over the last few months, thanks to the efforts of Bill Wendt and the team of professionals he put together. With their most recent decision for reassessment, the DLGF has clearly dealt with those past mistakes head-on and made a gut-wrenching decision to do the best that they can now to make it as right as possible. Personally, I think Commissioner Musgrave should be commended for doing a good job within the confines of the horrible property tax assessment system our legislators have created over many, many years.  Thankfully, some local officials also seem to have come to understand that this decision really is the only fair thing to do and appear willing to get on with it without further bitching and moaning.  I believe that is what they were elected to do and they should now be going full bore to get this mess fixed as quickly, accurately, and cost-effectively as possible.

Secondly, just this week, a majority of the LaPorte County Commissioners finally decided to kick Nexus out of bed and bring in another firm to assist with the newly ordered property tax reassessment   http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=14281&TM=10458.47  It certainly is long past time for a “fresh pair of eyes” and a careful re-examination of what has happened.  Some folks, (elected, appointed, and contracted) need to be held accountable and I think the only way that is going to happen is by bringing in a new crew to help sort it all out.

Commissioner Mike Bohacek has consistently been trying to do the right thing and get to the bottom of this mess.  In my opinion, I believe he is also right on track with looking into a potential breach of contract action and recovery of fees from Nexus. There is simply no way that the hard working taxpayers of LaPorte County should have to pay for cleaning up the Property Tax Superfund Site that the County Assessor has left us with.

As a LaPorte County Property Taxpayer, I find it pretty outrageous that we apparently have been paying not only for the County Attorney to fight, but apparently we have also been billed by Nexus as well - gotta love those kind of special contracts.   While Bill Wendt and property taxpayers who have filed appeals have been paying for those efforts out of their own pockets, Taxpayers apparently have also had to foot the bill for some Nexus time and legal costs as well.  Have we also had to pay expenses and costs to bring in expert consultants to testify against us at the DLGF hearings as well?  Since LaPorte County loves to hire consultants, the LaPorte County Council should now hire another one to provide LaPorte County Taxpayers with a complete accounting and full disclosure of exactly how much of our tax money has been wasted on this fiasco.  If ever there is a case to justify some “loser pays”  tort reform legislation, this mess should be near the top of the list.

But with the disclosure that at least one “erroneous payment” was made, the thing that really boils the blood in my Libertarian veins is the way that attempts have been made to bully and intimidate some outspoken critics with legal action.  If LaPorte County Taxpayers have made any sort of payments that in any way, shape, or form have been used to pay for legal fees designed to intimidate and infringe on First Amendment or other fundamental rights of local citizens, then I believe we should demand our elected officials help pursue a just and proper remedy for those citizens.  Perhaps United States Code Title 18, Chapter 13 http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode18/usc_sup_01_18_10_I_20_13.html might be a good place to start.      

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