Accurate Tax Management

2012 Reassessment

denise — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 18:10:33 +0000

The Assessors have a state mandate to perform a reassessment for all properties in their district for the 2012 pay 2013 tax year. That process has already begun.

This involves someone in, or representing the Assessor’s office to acutally go out and physically inspect each property for changes, both residential and commercial.

For now this may affect you in a couple of ways:

1. You may see someone measuring and taking pictures of your property.

2. You may receive a survey in the mail requesting that you confirm certain characteristics about your property, or provide income information. Proceed cautiously when completing these forms. They can have a big impact on the future tax bill you may pay. Call us if you are in doubt about what to do.

More on the reassessment in the coming months.

Real Estate Tax Bills

denise — Mon, 02 May 2011 16:02:29 +0000

The Department of Local Government Finance today
announced that for the first time since 2002, property tax bills in 90 counties
have been issued on-time, resulting in the normal May 10 due date. This is the
second consecutive year the majority of counties have achieved on-time billing,
representing a stabilization of the property tax assessment to billing cycle.
Last year, 85 counties billed on-time, while only two counties – Kosciusko and
Owen – billed on-time in 2009. No county achieved on-time billing in 2008.

Let’s hope that this remains true during the 2012 reassessment.

Oaken Bucket Supreme Court Ruling

denise — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 16:03:15 +0000

For those of you that either lease space to not for profit entities, or work with people who lease space to not for profit groups, you will want to make sure and read the memo issued by the DGLF concerning the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Oaken Bucket Case.

It can be accessed by going to http://www.in.gov/dlgf/files/110104-_Wood_Memo-_Supreme_Court_Exemption_Ruling.pdf

Homeowner Deductions

denise — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 18:51:59 +0000

A reminder that all Homeowner Deductions must be signed and postmarked by midnight tomorrow (December 31st). A few more things to know about the deductions:

1. If you have refinanced, or have had a deed change you will need to re-file your deductions.

2. A taxpayer cannot receive the same deduction on multiple properties.

3. The deductions need to be filed with the County Auditor’s office. Some Counties offer online filing, and some do not.

A few of the deductions available to homeowners are:

Homestead Deduction
Mortgage Deduction
Over 65 Deduction
Blind or Disabled Person Deduction
Totally and Partially Disabled Veteran Deduction
Solar Energy Deduction
Wind Power Device
Hydroelectric Power Device
Geothermal Device

Of all of the deductions listed above, the Homestead Deduction can have the largest impact on your real estate tax bill. This deduction assists the Assessor’s office in determining which of the tax rates you fall under. For example with the Homestead Deduction you will likely fall into the 1% tax cap, where if you do not have the deduction you may be classified under the 2% tax cap.

Start 2011 off right and make sure you get those deductions filed!

Important Marion County Filing Deadline

denise — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 16:33:47 +0000

On October 13th, Form 11 Notices of Assessments were sent out to over 180,000 Marion County property owners notifying them of a change in their assessments relative to the pervious tax year. If you were the recpient of one of those notices, the FILING DEADLINE WAS INACCURATELY STATED. The notice states that the deadline to appeal the 2010 pay 2011 assessment would be 45 days from the date the County Treasurer sends out the tax bill next year. The correct deadline to appeal the 2010 pay 2011 values is November 30th 2010, IF the taxpayer has received the Form 11 Notice of Assessment.

Bottom line if your 2010 assessed value changed either up or down, you need to file an appeal by November 30th. If the value did not change you can file your appeal 45 days AFTER the County Treasurer sends out the tax bill next Spring.

Confused? Call us we’ll be happy to help.

Upcoming Elections

denise — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 19:43:26 +0000

The November elections are quickly approaching. These elections will affect property taxes in two different ways.
The first way would be that all 92 County Assessor’s are up for re-election. While many have chosen to retire, others are in a heated battle to retain their positions. We also will see some new faces on the ballot this year.
The second way would be the proposed referendum concerning whether or not the tax caps should be added to the Indiana Constitution.
In both cases I hope that you go to the polls informed and ready to make a decision about both. Your decision could affect your bottom line for years to come.

Vacant Contiguous Land Parcels

denise — Sat, 22 May 2010 21:08:22 +0000

This year House Enrolled Act 1324-2010 added a new section to IC 6-1.1-24-6.8 which permits a county to sell certain vacant parcels to contiguous parcel owners as part of the tax sale process. In order to be eligible there are a few criteria that must be met.

The vacant parcel must have:

1. A County lien that resulted from a prior tax sale

2. Be unimproved on the date the parcel is offered for sale.

3. Be legally eligible for construction of a residence.

4. On the date the vacant parcel is offered for sale, be contiguous to at least one parcel that has an occupied residential structure, or a structure used in conjunction with an occupied residential structure, and that is eligible for the homestead standard deduction.

In order to purchase a vacant parcel the owner of a contiguous parcel must file a written application with the County.

Benefits of purchasing the contiguous parcel:

1. At the time of the purchase all delinquent taxes, special assessments, penalties, and interest will be removed from the parcel.

2. A tax exemption will be granted for that parcel for 5 years, or until the first transfer of title to the parcel occurs after the purchase.

Advantage to the County? They no longer have abandoned vacant parcels to maintain.

Cost of a contiguous parcel – $1.00.

Tax Bills Are Due Today!

denise — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:15:54 +0000

The Department of Local Government and Finance (DGLF) have been working diligently with the Assessor’s offices for the past year to ensure that most Counties are back to “on time billing.”

This means that most taxpayers can count once again on their real estate tax bills being due on May 10th and November 10th.

For some of you that still means that you had three tax bills due this year, however the DGLF is keeping a watchful eye over the Counties to insure that they continue to submit the necessary data on time to maintain the two tax bill per year system.

For now it seems to be working. Stay tuned to see if they can maintain the status quo during, and after the mandated 2012 reassessment.

Super Bowl Opportunities for Commercial Real Estate

denise — Wed, 05 May 2010 12:06:21 +0000

Last month I attended the quarterly luncheon for IndyCREW. The speaker was Allison Melangton, the President and CEO of the Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee.

While her updates on what is, and what will be happening around Indianapolis over the next couple of years were interesting, one thing that she mentioned really caught my attention.

The Super Bowl is not just a one day event. The events and parties will run about 10 days. Think about the possibilities of having thousands of people in our city for that length of time.

How does that relate to Commercial Real Estate? They have to have space for all of those events and parties. The current event space available isn’t even close to enough space to handle the number of events that will be taking place.

Allison said as the event gets closer they will be looking at ALL available vacant space around the city so they connect the event planners to them. Here is the link to the 2012 Super Bowl site http://www.our2012sb.com/

It may not be a long term lease, but who knows. Your space or your client’s space may be chosen for the 2012 Nike or Victoria Secret party. Not a bad claim to fame as you continue to market the property.

The Pink Paper!

denise — Wed, 05 May 2010 00:42:24 +0000

There seems to be a lot of confusion about the mysterious “pink paper” that was included in the tax bills recently mailed to taxpayers. To complicate it even further there also seems to be a rumor circulating that the forms needed to be filed by April 30th of this year, or homeowners would lose their Homestead Deduction.

Here are the facts around the “pink paper.”

1. The form has a name. It’s the Homestead Verification Form.

2. Home owners have until January 1, 2013 to file the form. If the form is not filed by then they will lose the deduction.

3. It is necessary to re-file for the deduction because there is a statewide database being created to help prevent fraud.

4. You can file the form at any time. If you did not get the form click on this link to find it. http://www.in.gov/dlgf/8455.htm.

5. If you do not have the Homestead Deduction right now – DO NOT WAIT. If you file the form by the end of the year it will affect your 2010 pay 2011 tax bill in a positive way.

Still have questions? Contact us and we’ll try to answer them for you.