One Lake County City Begs for Relief from Indiana Property Tax Caps

It seems that no matter where you live, there always seems to be one city that just can’t seem to get its act together.

For Lake County, Indiana, the prize goes to the City of Gary.

Fed up with the wasteful spending of local governments, Indiana lawmakers passed a constitutional amendment that caps homeowner property taxes at 1% of a home’s value. This amendment limits the amount of property taxes that Indiana cities can assess.

Unfortunately when this amendment passed, lawmakers provided one loophole – the ability for cities in Indiana to ask the Indiana Distressed Unit Appeals Board for an exception.

Gary, Indiana is only city in the state that has the dubious distinction of asking for an exception to the property tax cap for three straight years. By asking for this exception, Gary is effectively seeking a bailout from the State of Indiana.

If the exception is granted, for the third straight year in a row, Gary will be able to ask for property tax increases that are higher than the 1% ceiling in the constitutional amendment.

Gary officials have offered the usual excuses about why they can’t provide city residents with the property tax relief that residents of other cities enjoy across the state.

Those reasons include a belief by officials that the Gary budget is as lean as it can get and that any further cuts will have to come from basic services such as fire, police, and public safety services.

There is also concern that by allowing Gary to continue to raise property taxes year after year, new businesses won’t locate in the city because of the sky high tax rates.

As a result, many are skeptical of Gary’s tax help request, including the officials on the state board set up to hear the city’s request.  After all, it is the 3rd straight year that the city has come begging for an exception.

If the board does grant the request, Gary residents will again be the only taxpayers in the state not benefiting from the constitutional amendment.

If you live in Gary, Indiana or elsewhere in Lake County, don’t put up with local governments that can’t get their act together. Use ValueAppeal to keep your Lake County property tax assessment as low as possible.