County assessors split on consolidation

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BY BILL DOLAN
bdolan@nwitimes.com
219.662.5328 | Sunday, October 05, 2008 | (8 comment(s))

Lake County Assessor Paul Karras wants nothing to do with the township assessing duties that Gov. Mitch Daniels wants to confer on him through a Nov. 4 ballot referendum.

"The state Legislature is flirting with disaster," he said last week when asked how he will vote on eliminating six Lake County township assessors and consolidating their duties with his office. "Retain township assessors? I have to say 100 percent yes."

Karras said the governor's proposal is flawed because his office cannot give the same personal service as the six township officials, four or whom are fellow Democrats and two Republicans.

"Where are the cost savings? The budget would be the same, so what is the sense of combing everything under the county umbrella?" he asked.

However, Porter County Assessor John Scott supports township assessors' elimination, even though he was Portage Township assessor himself for 16 years.

Porter County's Center and Portage township assessors are up for elimination Nov. 4. Some 10 other rural township assessors were automatically eliminated in summer, and Scott said that has been good for the county.

"In the two years I've been county assessor, we've had a lot of problems crop up because there isn't total cooperation between the county and the townships. The 10 we took over now seem to be working very smoothly," Scott said.

"The township assessors want to do it their own way because they are elected officials, but that creates a problem for our getting our certification downstate to get our tax rates and everything else. The Realtors, the chambers of commerce and the farmers want the buck to really stop with one person."

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Porter County working well wrote on Oct 5, 2008 6:07 PM:

" Why don't we ask the assessors that are working at the county now. Oh that's right they were threatened that they could not talk to anyone or risk being fired. Has to be a great working condition there. Sad!!!! "

Joe wrote on Oct 5, 2008 5:21 PM:

" This is the guy Karras who cannot get anything done on time and is always full of excuses. He is a typical do nothing excuse laden overworked public official who if he worked in the private sector would be out on the street so fast his head would spin. "

JS wrote on Oct 5, 2008 4:29 PM:

" Leave it to Paul Karras to want to run parallel, redundant systems that don't always communicate or get along. Wonder which relative/crony of his will be losing their job when this thing passes? "

Crybabies wrote on Oct 5, 2008 3:18 PM:

" Township Assessors are (were) people who largely transformed their elected office into full time employment and often bartered favorable assessment of real property for votes... plain and simple. The voter (tax paying land owner) and the Twp. Assessor were not likely to RAT on themselves, so the only way to discover/uncover this larceny was through the wide disparities of value identified between properties of like character in similar markets. This translated into inequity of tax rates. I don't know about TWP Trustees, but the Assessors had to go... ALL OF THEM! The County Assessor will hire those TWP Assessors who are worth their salt and the unholy TWP alliances will be broken once and for all. "

Homeowner wrote on Oct 5, 2008 10:13 AM:

" Start consolidating some of these agencies. One stop shopping would be nice. If your assessment is wrong, you go to one agency, your tax bill another. Anything to do with your home should be in one place. too many gov't offices. "

Steve wrote on Oct 5, 2008 9:40 AM:

" "Karras said the governor's proposal is flawed because his office cannot give the same personal service as the six township officials.." Calumet Township's "personal service" is something I could do without! "

nwi wrote on Oct 5, 2008 8:42 AM:

" That's right now you cannot blame your ineptness on the township now! The buck stops here...you and your sucessor will now actually have to do the job! "

scott wrote on Oct 5, 2008 12:45 AM:

" this plan is a disaster.believe me, im a realtor broker and while i pay gniar, it is only so they dont make my broker fire me for not paying them!the last thing i want for lake county is to have my township infromation sent up to the government center. i know im not rich and there are many reasons for that, but lack of central authority is simply far from it. if indiana wants to impress me, it can make these county assessors post some decent,free, and accurate web pages. "

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