Comments on: A Proposal for Slightly Saner Taxes in St. Joseph County

By: bud ludwick

bud ludwick — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:13:22 +0000

My wife and I retired in 2007 , did a 1031 exchange out of our state to a property in indiana
(St. Joseph county). This property was to provide us retirement income. The ’06 tax was approx$14900.,then came our 1st tax year.’07…$14,290.,today we received ’08 tax an about had a heart attack…they want $$$ 4 1,5 3 0. 00…..this is hiway robbery,I thought Jesse James was dead but evidently he has taken up appraising for the out of touch tax asessors’ office. According to the news ..most realestate in most states has gone down 30 to 40% but evidently your tax appraiser isn’t in to “THE NEWS”.
The silent majority better wake up and vote these people out befor its to late.
These tax methods will cause serious losses up the road as people leave and/or people pass over investing in Indiana because of current tax methods.
A percentage cap is no good unless it is accompanied by a cap on percentage increase of the
asessed value.These turkeys just inflate your asessed value to make it come out to the money
they need…
Another disgrunted Retiree

By: Long time, local Realtor insider

Long time, local Realtor insider — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 22:31:07 +0000

Do you all realize where your over-assessed tax dollars are being spent? St. Joe County does and so do I, but their information is not being reported, as required to Indianapolis, or to us either. Just broken promises, finger pointing and grand visions of our bright future here. The all mighty in power have so many “Pork” projects going forward, it only further cripples our city and our pockets too. What about the abandonment of our inner city, due lack of decent, affordable housing, brought on by the high taxes? What about our high crime rates, poor schools, lack of decent wage paying jobs, etc? That over-taxed money is for sure not going where it is needed. How about another airport? Once twice as big? I don’t think one is enough, even with it’s expansion. How about another Hall of Shame? Kernan at the Cove anyone? More tax abated commercial and residential developments? Don’t forget to vote this year. Clean house of all the entrenched pork spenders and get some new minds that may have better solutions than the generations of tax and spend thinking. Enough is enough!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:36:16 +0000

I had a similar situation happen to me when I moved to Mishawaka a little over two years ago. My tax bill went from $908 to $2488 because of this backwards system, making it difficult to file Mortgage and Home owners exemptions. My taxes should return to their normal level this year, but with the tax hikes in effect it is anyones guess what they will be this year

By: Center Twshp Taxpayer

Center Twshp Taxpayer — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:33:33 +0000

ahhh – Just got my reassessment! What is going on with these taxes! My taxes will almost double, and I cant justify thhe increase – no water or sewer service to my home, and I thought they just did the reassessment a few years ago? Anyone know what is happening?

By: Ex ND Prof

Ex ND Prof — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:11:31 +0000

I have a horror story alright.

I closed on my home at the beginning of April a few years ago. I was very careful to ask both the seller’s realtor and my realtor to find out exactly what my property taxes would be.

As required I filed for my Homestead Exemption in time. Many months later when my property tax bill arrived it was double of what I expected and I noticed the Homestead Exemption was not in place.

After many, many calls to the bank, county, realtors etc, I discovered that the seller had moved their homestead exemption to another home in February of the selling year, but sold the home to me in April, while the deadline for filing for the Homestead Exemption was March.

As a result, even though I knew what would happen a year before it occurred, it turned out that I was not eligible for the Homestead Exemption for my first year of ownership since I bought the home in April. To file the exemption I needed to be the owner in March.

This was the most idiotic law I came across. Just because the assessment is done once a year shouldn’t mean that I can’t file an exemption if I buy a home the next month.

In the end, I had to pay several thousand in property taxes for a home I’m now going to have to sell within a few years because I’ve had to move out of state for work.

By: John T.

John T. — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:49:35 +0000

The property tax system certainly needs improvement. One subdivision hit hard seems to be The Forest where the reassessment must have hit them hard…from the looks of things that is a “horror story” There a lot of homes in The Forest for sale and have sat on the market for many months. Does anyone have any insights?