[ChickenCityRoller]

In a recent article in the News Dispatch, Carol McDaniel was quoted:

"I want the public to know that if they have questions about the assessments listed on their tax bills, they can call me or their township assessors and they won't be charged a penny for any inquiry," she said. "We'll even tell them how to file an appeal, if necessary."

Here are some of the minutes from her deposition a couple months back. There is also a copy of her hard card (which is readily available to anyone) which was used during the deposition. What kind of help do you expect to get from her?



Q: Ms. McDaniel, are you able to read the tax cart that's in front of you as Exhibit 11 adequately enough to answer questions about it?
A: I'm going to try.

Q: Under the bold typed word "RESIDENTIAL," there is a section that is entitled "Valuation Record." Do you see that?
A: Yes

Q: And under Valuation Record there are various years, assessment years that are entered there; and on this particular card it's March 1, 2002; March 1, 2003; March 1, 2005 and March 1, 2006; do you se that?
A: Uh-huh
REPORTER: Yes?
A: Yes.

Q: Is there a reason that those years are there and March 1, 2004 is missing?
A: I have no idea.

Q: Then under the -- directly under that, there is a section that says "Valuation, Appraised Value," with L, B, and T. Do you see L, B and T there?
A: Yes

Q: Do you know what L, B and T stand for?
A: No.

Q: Does L stand for land, B stand for building, and T stand for total?
A: I don't know.

Q: And there is a section that says L, B and T for appraised value, and a section that says L, B and T for true tax value; do you see that?
A: Yes

Q: What is the difference between appraised value and true tax value?
A: I don't know.

Q: I also see that your tax, appraised value, your true -- the total, went down again from March 1, 2005 to March 1, 2006; do you know the reason for that?
A: I don't know.

Q: OK. There is a sub-section there entitled "Land Type." Do you see that? It's in the left column or left portion of the Land Data and Calculations.
A: I'm missing that. Oh, OK, I see it. I see it.

Q: Under "Land Type" there are two entries there. One, Home site; and two, Residential Excess Acreage. What is Residential Excess Acreage?
A: Other acreage than where the house is setting.

Q: Is acreage other than where the house is setting to be assessed differently than acreage where the house is setting?
A: YES

Q: And should that same principal apply to all taxpayers in LaPorte County?
A: YES

Q: Who would have made the determination in your case that there was excess acreage?
A: See, I'm not sure how that's -- I don't know.



Q: Under the Summary of Improvements there is an entry that says ID and under that there are three entries D for -- DWEL, GO1 for ATTGAR and 01 for UTLSHED; what do those entries mean?
A: The D is dwelling. The GO1 says attached garage, and the 01 is utility shed.

Q: So in your particular case you have a dwelling and an attached garage and a utility shed on your property's?
A: YES

Q: And each of those are assessed separately?
A: Yes

Q: My next question is: Are all taxpayers in LaPorte County entitled to have their dwelling, their attached garage and utility shed assessed separately, just as you have?
A: YES

The next entry as I go from left to right because we talked about ID and use, is STRY HGT. Does that stand for story height?
A: I don't know.

Q: Do you know what STRY HGT does stand for?
A: No, I don't.

Q: The next column is entitled CONST type; does that mean construction type?
A: I don't know.

Q: Under your card by the entry "attached garage" and under the column CONST Type, it says seven and under utility shed it says one. Do you know what that means?
A: No, sir.

Q: The next column moving from left to right under Summary of Improvements is entitled "Grade." What does Grade mean?
A: I don't know.

Q: How did you come to have a C Grade on your dwelling, a D Grade on your utility shed, and no Grade on your attached garage; if you know?
A: I don't know.

Q: Who makes that determination? Is that done by the township assessor, by Nexus, or by you?
A: Township assessor.

Q: Does Nexus have input on the grades of dwellings, attached garages and utility sheds in LaPorte County?
A: Yes.

Q: Did Nexus have input on yours; if you know?
A: I don't know.

Q: Do some taxpayers have attached garages, and utility sheds graded by Nexus and others not in LaPorte County?
A: I don't know.

Q: Under what circumstances can the grade of an existing dwelling be changed?
A: I don't know.

Q: Must there be a change or improvement for the grade to be changed?
A: I don't know.

Q: Let's continue under your card moving from left to right. The next is year of construction, and under your card it says 1973 for the dwelling 1998 for the utility shed, and there is no entry for the attached garage. Was your dwelling built in 1973?
A: Yes.

Q: Is the year of construction to be noted on all tax cards for all taxpayers of LaPorte County?
A: To my knowledge.

Q: And is the year of construction to be the actual year that dwelling is constructed?
A: I don't know.

Q: Under what circumstances would the tax card have a year of construction other than the year in which the dwelling was actually constructed?
A: I don't know.

Q: The next column is entitled "EFF Year." Do you know what EFF year stands for?
A: NO.

Q: Have you ever been told that stands for effective year?
A: I have heard of effective year, but I did not know that's what that is for.

Q: What do you understand the term "effective year" to mean?
A: I don't really know.

Q: Should the year of construction and effective year be the same for all taxpayers in LaPorte County?
A: I have no idea. I don't know.

Q: Under what circumstances should the year of construction and effective year ever be different?
A: I don't know.

Q: As assessor for LaPorte County, can you tell me what reasons might exist for the year of construction and the effective year to be different?
A: I don't know.

Q: In terms of coming up with the tax assessment, which year should be used, the year of construction or the effective year?
A: I don't know.

Q: The next column is entitled "COND." Does that stand for condition?
A: I don't know.

Q: In you particular card it says "AV." Do you know what AV stands for?
A: I don't know.

Q: The next entry -- the next column is entitled "Base Rate." What does Base Rate mean?
A: I have no idea.

Q: The next column is entitled "Features." What does features mean>
A: I don't know.

Q: The next column says "ADJ Rate," which I assume is adjusted rate; do you agree with that?
A: I don't know what it is.




The deposition minutes go on and on like this showing very clearly how incompetent out assessor is. So, go ahead and call her if you need some questions answered; "you won't be charged a penny."

[RedDevilMC]

This doesn't look good. Where did you get this from? As a real estate agent, we had to learn about several items on those hard cards. Some of these things were so basic. I'm puzzled by the answers.

[ChickenCityRoller]

This doesn't look good.
It's not good!
Where did you get this from?
These were made available at the meeting Mike Connor held at BlueChip on Saturday. They are minutes from when Carol McDaniels was deposed this past summer.
As a real estate agent, we had to learn about several items on those hard cards.
Some of these things were so basic.
You can't get any more basic
I'm puzzled by the answers.
Carol was puzzled by the questions.

[Ang]

At least take comfort with the knowledge that you won't be charged a penny for nothing. Literally!

[JHeath]

Thanks for saving all of us $100, CCR.
I, too, am puzzled by her answers. This must be why the consulting group was hired to assist...

[ChickenCityRoller]

Thanks for saving all of us $100, CCR.
I, too, am puzzled by her answers. This must be why the consulting group was hired to assist...

Yes, Nexus was hired because she it totally inept at assessing. Now Nexus and LaPorte had to recently hire an appraiser for $50,000 of our money because Nexus, the firm which McDaniels hired doesn't even have an in house appraiser. Talk about frivolous spending of our money! Another interesting point is that Nexus was the only one who bid on the job. I think it's law when hiring outside contractors that the county must recieve no less than three competitive bids. What a mess.

[Roger Kaputnik]

I cannot stand Conner. Any project he is associated with is deeply tainted.

That being said, it would be more interesting and instructive to have a complete transcript, not just the worst parts for her.

[ChickenCityRoller]

I cannot stand Conner. Any project he is associated with is deeply tainted.

That being said, it would be more interesting and instructive to have a complete transcript, not just the worst parts for her.

Out of curiosity, why can you not stand Connor? Did he do something to you personally to honk you off?

Believe me, there is absolutely NOTHING instructive in the complete transcript. The entire thing is like a train wreck and I got tired of transcribing. If she can't answer the most base of questions, you should be able to connect the dots on how the rest of the depostion followed.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Conner...trust me, bad egg. I have stepped in stuff I liked better.



I assumed there was some friendly questioning of McDaniels. Even so, she does not come off well. That does not mean there is anything wrong with the assessments, though. Can you imagine someone questioning W? And somehow the SS checks still go out every month.

[ChickenCityRoller]

Conner...trust me, bad egg. I have stepped in stuff I liked better.
I assumed there was some friendly questioning of McDaniels. Even so, she does not come off well. That does not mean there is anything wrong with the assessments, though. Can you imagine someone questioning W? And somehow the SS checks still go out every month.

I'm still curious as to why you feel so strongly about Conner. I'm just wondering.
A deposition usually tends not to be a friendly questioning. I can promise you the assessments are totally out of wack. It's not that the people in Long Beach or Michigan township are over assessed, it's that the rest of the county is very underassessed. I posted in the other thread but maybe you didn't see it. It was through the courts and the actions of some that the Nipsco propert just a couple weeks ago was reassessed from 20 million to 60 million. It is still underassessed but it's better. YOU were carrying the weight of Nipsco.

[Roger Kaputnik]

I was wondering why I had gas!

[ChickenCityRoller]

bumping it back up to the top!