By Jessica Kerman
June 28, 2008 10:38 pm
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ANDERSON — Realtor Ben Jones worries about losing township assessors.
The assessors, one for each of Madison County’s 14 townships, hold the statistics he needs to sell homes, like the value of land, property maps and tax records.
“(The township assessors) all have the pertinent information that we need to market the home,” the Elwood resident said. “If we couldn’t get the information there, I’m not sure where we could get the information.”
Jones is one of many people concerned about the consolidation of township assessors into the county assessor office, a move that becomes effective Tuesday under a new state law.
As part of the property tax reform plan, the Indiana General Assembly passed a law that eliminates township assessors in areas with less than 15,000 parcels of land. As of Tuesday, 13 of the 14 township assessors in Madison County will be without jobs.
The exception is Anderson Township, which takes in most of the city of Anderson and has more than 15,000 parcels. In November, Anderson Township residents will vote on whether they want Assessor Patricia Davis to continue her full-time job.
“The way the referendum is worded is not beneficial to me,” Davis said. “The public needs to be informed what they’re voting for. I might need to go back out like I’m running again.”
Some township assessors say the change could result in the loss of convenient services to rural residents. The work could become a backlog for staff in the county assessor’s office, they say.
“I’d like to have kept them all,” said Cheryl Heath, county assessor. “I guess the state thinks that it’s going to save money.”
If Heath were to have the opportunity to hire more people, she is mandated to interview former township assessors first, state Rep. Scott Reske, D-Pendleton, explained.
“There’s still that option that they can hire the township assessor,” Reske said.
Reske said he did not agree with the consolidation of the assessors in the county.
“I think it should be up to the voters,” he said. “What I would argue is that I think each county, or township, should have the voter decide.”
An assessor measures the value of property for residents in the county. Eight people in the county assessor’s office have certification to assess real estate, Heath said. Those people will be responsible for more than 98,000 parcels of land in the county.
“I was going to get that level this year,” Union Township Assessor Linda Geiger said. “I was elected last year, and I went to school and got level one. This year I was going to get a level two.”
Geiger, who was assessor for 16 years prior to her most recent term, said she would not continue to get the schooling.
Heath said she would set up a satellite office in Alexandria for people to have personal property and mobile homes assessed.
Next year, mobile homes and travel trailers would be assessed through the license branch. Businesses and farmers will not have to report inventory anymore either, taking some load off of the county office.
Personal service loss?
With consolidation comes loss of personal contact and convenience for residents of the county.
Sue Morgan, Lafayette Township assessor, said the personal service will be a major loss for citizens.
“They’re taking the local government away from the people,” she said.
The county assessor’s office had set hours of operations, while most township assessors work any time of day, any day of the week, Melinda Padgett, Adams Township assessor said.
“There have been several times where someone doesn’t think their assessment is quite right, and I come out and look at it,” she said. “I’ve gone out on evenings and on weekends. Of course, the county won’t be available on evenings and weekends, and that’s when people are home.”
When damaging storms recently ripped through Madison County, Green Township lost two barns. Greg Valentine, Green Township assessor, said he had them taken off the tax rolls the next day. When a house burned in Ingalls, he went to the courthouse and decreased the value.
“The taxpayers have lost the only ally they had in their locale,” Valentine said. “As of July 1, you’ve lost the only asset you had as far as a question about a pole barn, a garage or why you were assessed a certain way.”
Valentine said the county is unaware of many small, home-based businesses, as well.
“I have businesses working out of their house, who never turn in the proper forms. I assess their computers and desks and file cabinets. If it goes to the county level, they’re not going to know who the small businesses are in the townships.”
Valentine said eight Green Township businesses refuse to do any related paperwork and it’s up to him to evaluate what each is worth.
Padgett said she never received notification of new construction in Markleville, but had to rely on her own powers of perception.
Annamarie Ryan, Monroe Township assessor, said she was worried her constituents would not receive accurate assessments from county assessors. Ryan argued that her home in Alexandria is worth $80,000, but would be closer to $130,000 in Anderson.
“Are these people from Anderson going to consider this as Alexandria or are they going to take it as Anderson?” she asked.
Ryan said the termination was troubling.
“I think it stinks,” she said. “When it first happened, we were supposed to be able to run our term. My term would have ended on Jan. 1, 2010. Thirty days later, they came out with a note that said, ‘You’re done June 30.’”
In addition to losing her $8,000 salary, Ryan will lose her health benefits, and she could be forced to use Medicaid, she said.
Cost savigs
According to the Kernan-Shepard report, which recommended the consolidation, streamlining local government should result in a cost savings for the taxpayer.
However, most township assessors say the savings will not be passed on to constituents.
“It will absolutely not save any money,” Davis, of Anderson, said. “During the hearings at the Statehouse, people said it would not save any money. Everybody that’s being replaced, the assessor will have to hire more people to do that work. The county’s pretty big. It’s not going to save any money.”
Heath said she would need to hire more people to handle the extra work. In county government, new positions must be approved by the Madison County Council. However, the council had not approved any new money uses or new positions for any department since before January.
The township assessors will be paid until the end of 2008, despite losing their duties on July 1, Heath said.
John Bostic Jr., council president, said he would not vote for a new position.
“Not right now,” he said. “I would need to see how we stand on a budget, if we can do it. I don’t know if we can do it or not. I would have to see from the numbers, see the type of predicament we are in and see if her staff that she has now could handle it.”
The county government, along with municipalities all over the state, are cutting budgets to accommodate a reduction in property tax revenue because of the reform bill. As was previously reported, Madison County is set to lose $6 million in the next two years because of the bill.
Richland Township Assessor Richard Cleaver said the assessors have become the scapegoat for increases in some property taxes around the state.
“You take one of the lowest jobs in the state and blame all the problems they have in Indianapolis on us,” Cleaver, 68, said. “That’s kind of ridiculous.”
Many assessors, including Cleaver, said the county office was well-equipped to handle the additional workload.
“I don’t have a problem with someone from the county doing it,” said Teresa Hiatt, assessor for Boone Township. “They are well qualified.”
Deena Smith, Stony Creek Township assessor, said the county office will be swamped once tax season comes around.
“There will be a large effect during the taxing season,” she said. “The appeals and reassessment, I don’t think you’re saving a lot of money.”
Smith called her salary of around $1,700 “a pittance,” in addition to the $6,000 for her trustee duties.
“I think the county assessors are going to be extremely overworked and underpaid,” she said.
Jackson Township Assessor Karen Lumpkin said she’s glad to be done with her assessor responsibilities.
“When I took this position six years ago, it was a minimal job, and I did it as more of a public service,” she said. “It has become almost a nightmare keeping up with what the state wants.”
The township assessors are more worried about the effect the consolidation will have on taxpayers throughout the county.
“With my constituents, I know who they are. I know their needs,” Hiatt said. “I can be right there; whereas, someone from the county, it’s just less convenient for my constituents.”
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