[lovethiscity]

I posted this letter to ask some questions. Why does Shaw Friedman always respond to anything to do with the accessors office? Can't Carol McDaniel do it herself? She obviously has tons of free time while skipping meetings and the getting NEXUS to do her work for her. Finally if Shaw Friedman has all of the answers why doesn't he run for office?

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...ArticleID=19346

She is on vacation dummy

[Roger Kaputnik]

Mr. F. is her office's attorney; it actually is his job to represent her office. Remember what lawyers are called in the old flicks? Mouthpieces! Hey, I guess one could take that more than one way!


I agree with Ang that if the assessors manned up and dealt with the problems when presented with them, much of the illwill would not occur. Besides this, they did not have an explanation as to their manner of calculating the tax from the assessed value. That actually was the basis of one suit. There was some discussion of this on the radio (reminder: This means WIMS) when Mr. Reed called in to explain some of these issues. All the namecalling ("wealthy Long Beach resident") serves to cloud the issue in another attempt to keep our eyes off the ball.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=51540.49

Ratio study sent back to assessor
Corrections and backup documentation must be resubmitted by Dec. 18

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

LA PORTE - The Nexus Group has more work to do on the re-submitted ratio study it sent Nov. 20 to the Department of Local Government Finance.

The DLGF notified La Porte County Assessor Carol McDaniel via an e-mail letter late Wednesday afternoon that corrections needed to be made to the ratio study before it would be approved. The letter outlined the needed corrections and gave the county until Dec. 18 to resubmit the ratio study.

Contacted at home, McDaniel said she had not yet seen the letter and could not comment on it.

County Attorney Shaw Friedman said he spoke with both McDaniel and Nexus representatives Thursday evening.

"Even with DLGF acknowledging that La Porte County is being held to four levels of testing that have not applied to other counties, we still see the end in sight," Friedman said via e-mail.

Friedman said a close read of the memos indicates that La Porte County is nearing an approval of the re-trending.

"With more than 400 neighborhoods in La Porte County, it has come down to fine-tuning assessment values in 30 neighborhoods to the agency's satisfaction," Friedman said. "I should note that both Carol McDaniel and Nexus have worked diligently to incorporate agency directives and suggestions."

According to Mary Jane Michalak, DLGF communications director, 34 neighborhoods failed to pass the Mann Whitney test for sales chasing. That's about 19 percent of the tested neighborhoods.

Michalak also said issues came up in the results of other statistical tests done as part of the ratio study review.

"Some backup documentation for properties was missing," she said, "and there are questions about why 56 percent of the sales used in the revised ratio study were not included in the initial ratio study."

In many cases, counties don't pass a ratio study the first time through and are given a checklist of items needing to be clarified before the DLGF will approve the study, Michalak said.

"Two weeks is the typical turnaround time for a resubmission of a ratio study after a review," Michalak said. "We anticipate it will be sufficient in this case."

Friedman said they want the re-trending completed swiftly so budgets can be certified, tax bills can be issued and government entities can receive the revenue they need to provide services.

"Nexus and our assessor plan a conference call (today) with the DLGF to address the remaining issues so that they can be resolved by the Dec. 18 deadline," Friedman said.

Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Mr. Friedman would not have to worry about the retrending's being done swiftly if it all would have been done properly and above-board the first time.

[ChickenCityRoller]

[ChickenCityRoller]

A little help from the lawyers on this site. If Shaw Friedman is the county attorney and he's drafting up contracts for the county's hiring of NEXUS to do work in LaPorte County, Shaw can't ever represent NEXUS for anything. Isn't this correct? Isn't this called a conflict of interest? I would think for sure that he'd never be able to represent NEXUS against a tax payer or a group of tax payers. Isn't in a conflict that Shaw is representing NEXUS on certain cases but then drawing up employment contracts between the county and NEXUS? It seems like he could draft up the contract (and try to push it through) in favor for his "other" client, NEXUS.

Remember people, there was a terribly flawed contract that was literally PUSHED through at a commissioners meeting this summer. In that meeting, Shaw said that commissioners needed to vote for this in order to get the work done quickly. There was no opportunity for the public to speak during this meeting which was unusual. The only commissioner who voted against this contract was Mike Bohacek because Mike saw that there was no way for the county to get out of this contract and the entire contract was in favor of the vendor, NEXUS not the LaPorte County who Friedman was supposed to be working for and protecting.

[ChickenCityRoller]

I posted this letter to ask some questions. Why does Shaw Friedman always respond to anything to do with the accessors office? Can't Carol McDaniel do it herself? She obviously has tons of free time while skipping meetings and the getting NEXUS to do her work for her. Finally if Shaw Friedman has all of the answers why doesn't he run for office?

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...ArticleID=19346

Nexus has won every legal challenge
I can understand allowing Rick Richards to rant in his column, but why let him write editorials that end up being so fraught with error ("Assessor Absent", Sunday)? He's had a fixation with Assessor Carol McDaniel and county vendor Nexus even though they both have won every single legal challenge put to them.

It's wrong to claim the "reassessment mess in La Porte County is McDaniels' responsibility" and ignore that because of massive state law changes, over a quarter of Indiana counties were forced to reassess. Take a look at Marion County where the first 2008 tax bills just went out in the mail because of having to re-do 2006 assessments as we are.

Unlike Marion County, though, we've had the additional burden of fending off a well funded remonstrance from Long Beach property owner Bill Wendt, who has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fees and experts. We've won at every turn, but he's doing his level best to try to defeat the re-trending that was just submitted to the state.

Why does Rick Richards never mention or criticize Bill Wendt? Wendt filed a frivolous defamation lawsuit against Dr. Kora, which was just dismissed because there was no basis to the suit. Again, nothing from Richards. Wendt's friends like Mike Connor lose their lawsuit to void the Nexus contract and again nothing is heard from Rick Richards.

Nexus latest request for funds was turned down 4-3 by the county council, which preferred to wait to pay for 2007 work until the 2006 re-trending is approved by the state. That's understandable but again the editorial was wrong when it claimed Nexus was trying to get paid for the re-trending work when they're actually doing it for free.

Every week that goes by where Bill Wendt is able to delay DLGF approval is another week that tax revenues are delayed for cash starved communities in our county. Maybe we'll see that fact make it into an editorial one of these days.

Shaw Friedman

La Porte County

Attorney

I guess Shaw wasn't CC'ed this!

[Dave]

A little help from the lawyers on this site.

Who, me? Nope, couldn't be me, because I'm not a lawyer in Indiana.

My layman's opinion, worth the electrons it's written with, is that the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility for attorneys do address situations where attorneys represent both parties in situations such as negotiating contracts and divorce, and it's generally frowned upon. Split loyalties and all. Lots of waivers are recommended/required, and it's generally such a pain in the butt that I wouldn't even consider doing it.

As for the court order, well, if the judge tells you to do it, at that point you don't have much of a choice. I can't say that having the county attorney represent the county and a company which I can easily imagine the county suing at some point in the future makes me happy, though.

[ChickenCityRoller]

Nexus strikes out for the FOURTH time. Tons of flaws once again from our "vendor" Nexus who apparently can't get this right. I'm not sure how many times they'll be able to do this before the DLGF says no more or the people of LaPorte County say no more. Time to fire Nexus and get out money back. Shame on the mess.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...&TM=30949.6

Nexus asked to revisit data

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

LA PORTE - The Nexus Group has been asked yet again to revisit its property retrending data to fix existing problems.

That's according to La Porte County Auditor Teresa Shuter, who said Nexus has two weeks to respond to the issues.

Shuter spoke with Department of Local Government Finance Director Tim Rushenberg on Monday, learning the Nexus data need additional work. Rushenberg said sales chasing problems exist in nine neighborhoods in four townships, and ratio study problems were found in eight townships.

"He (Rushenberg) said they're really close and should be able to get it cleaned up," Shuter said. "He's very hopeful."

The DLGF and Nexus representatives held a teleconference Monday to discuss retrending issues. The La Porte County property tax process remains three years behind until the retrending issues are resolved and the reconciliation process can begin, said Shuter, who leaves her position as auditor Dec. 31.

q

Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=50053.32

Paperwork in store for taxpayers

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

LA PORTE - La Porte County property owners have 45 days from the time they receive a Form 11 assessment notice to appeal their 2006 pay 2007 property tax bills.

The state Department of Local Government Finance issued a statement Wednesday clarifying the right of appeal for county property owners, who have been waiting for the DLGF-ordered reassessment to be approved. The approval came last Friday.

The Form 11 notification tells the property owner what the assessed value of the property was, and what the value is now, after the reassessment. La Porte County Assessor Carol McDaniel said she wants to get the Form 11 notices in the mail as soon as possible. She expects to accomplish that sometime next week.

McDaniel emphasizes the Form 11 is not a property tax bill. The final reconciled tax bills will take a minimum of three months to produce, according to Barry Wood, assessment division director.

[Dave]

OK, let me see if I have this right. The form 11 goes in the mail ASAP. 45 days from either the time they are mailed or when they are received (probably from when they were mailed) to appeal. But these notices aren't the actual bills, those are going to come out at least 90 days from now.

So, hypothetically, Joe Homeowner gets the notice in the mail saying his accessed value was $100K, and now the corrected value of his home is $125K. Nothing in there about the actual taxes, however, just that the assessed value has gone up. By the time the actual bill comes, it's too late to appeal.

I see lots of Joe Homeowners getting the form 11 and thinking "Woohoo! My house went up in value! Nothing here about any billing here though. Cool, I'll just toss this in the trash." Three months later when the new and improved bills come out, Joe Homeowner thinks. "WTF? Why didn't they tell me my taxes were going up in that other letter I threw away? I'm going to contest this!" -- and when Joe and his neighbors are told they missed the deadline to contest the assessment by 45 days or more, they start gathering their pitchforks and torches and head for the County Assessor's office.

Or am I just wrong about this?

[JHeath]

...Or am I just wrong about this?

Once again, you're most likely correct.

Like many others, I received my form 11 in today's mail. It claims that my home increased in value by $6,100 from the previous assessed valuation. Based on this form, I plan to appeal.

I do not understand how they came to this value for my home. Yes, I live in a nicer area in Trail Cree, and we've started to do a lot of work on the house over the past few years (new rood, siding, and windows; just finished rebuilding a 3-season room in early December--prior to that time, it was an eyesore on the back of the home). I know that my home has not ever been worth that much...and won't certainly wasn't in 2006.

All that I know is that this has been an asbolute mess, and I'd hate to be the one to have to clean it up.

[ChickenCityRoller]

All that I know is that this has been an asbolute mess, and I'd hate to be the one to have to clean it up.

Yeah but imagine being paid to make the mess! What a job!

[Homey]

No kidding...what a nightmare!

[Southsider2k12]

Once again, you're most likely correct.

Like many others, I received my form 11 in today's mail. It claims that my home increased in value by $6,100 from the previous assessed valuation. Based on this form, I plan to appeal.

I do not understand how they came to this value for my home. Yes, I live in a nicer area in Trail Cree, and we've started to do a lot of work on the house over the past few years (new rood, siding, and windows; just finished rebuilding a 3-season room in early December--prior to that time, it was an eyesore on the back of the home). I know that my home has not ever been worth that much...and won't certainly wasn't in 2006.

All that I know is that this has been an asbolute mess, and I'd hate to be the one to have to clean it up.

Agree 100%. I think I am going to appeal mine as well.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=48087.52

Second 'provisional' tax bill to be sent

Laurie Wink
The News-Dispatch

LA PORTE - La Porte County property owners will be receiving the second "provisional" tax bill for 2006 taxes. These property tax bills were delayed by the countywide reassessment ordered by the state's Department of Local Government Finance last March. The DLGF has since approved the reassessment figures.

La Porte County Treasurer Nancy Hawkins said the second provisional tax bills are the same amount as the first provisional bills sent last fall, except they also include charges for Solid Waste and conservancy districts.

These second provisional tax bills will help La Porte County taxing units pay for operating expenses.

"They have essentially been trying to pay their bills with only one-half of a paycheck," Hawkins said.

Hawkins said a "reconciled" tax bill will not be ready to send for several more months. That final 2006 pay 2007 bill will account for differences in the first property tax assessment for 2006 pay 2007 and the reassessed amounts approved by the DLGF. Property owners will either owe additional taxes or receive a refund, depending on individual circumstances.

The Form 11 notifications sent in February tell property owners what the assessed value of the property was, and what the value is now, after reassessment. Property owners who disagree with the assessed value have 45 days after receiving a Form 11 assessment notice to file an appeal. Taxpayers with questions about Form 11 should contact the assessor's office at (219) 326-6808, Ext. 2290.

Hawkins said payment of the second provisional bills are due March 27. Call the treasurer's office, (219) 326-6808, Ext. 2245, with any questions about the second provisional bill.

Taxpayers are encouraged to mail their payments to: La Porte County Treasurer, P.O. Box J, Michigan City, IN 46361-0319.

Payments can also be made in person at any Horizon Bank office or at the Treasurer's Offices in La Porte, 555 Michigan Ave., Suite 102, or in Michigan City, 302 W. Eighth St.

Contact Laurie Wink at lwink@thenewsdispatch.com.

[ChickenCityRoller]

Something that I posted yesterday but must have been erased during the switch over.
We've all heard about assessments that were way to high. Here is a good example of the opposite. I wish I could find 34 acres of rolling hills for 100 buck. Heck, I'd probably buy it for two hundred dollars.

[Ang]

My reply was lost too. I commented that I wonder if the owner of this land is related to Carol or Shaw.

[ChickenCityRoller]

Have many of you filed for appeals? I'm hearing about people from all over the county filing appeals and evidently the assessors office is just overloaded with people and paper work.