Porter County Assessor Jon Snyder announced today that his office has received final approval from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance for the county’s 2012 assessed value ratio study, marking the beginning of the 2012 pay 2013 property tax billing cycle. Approval comes a full twenty days earlier than in the previous year.
“Each time we strive to improve our performance over the prior year,” Snyder said. “Taxpayers in Porter County taxpayer can rest assured that the county will once again achieve on time billing.”
Every year, the county assessor is required to annually review assessed values by comparing them to market sales information and adjust them if necessary. Assessments must then meet state-mandated statistical tests for fairness, equity, and uniformity among townships and property classes.
Ratio study approval is the first major step towards on-time billing in 2013. The next step, the rolling of gross assessed values from the assessor to the county auditor, must be completed by July 1, 2012. The study itself provides an early glimpse into property assessments for Porter County taxpayers.
Snyder also announced that the county’s assessment appeal backlog, which numbered over 7,000 in January of 2011, has now dipped below the 1,000 mark. According to Sndyer, staff continues to work at reducing and eliminating the backlog, and expects to be fully complete by the end of the year.
To receive more information and updates from the Porter County Assessor’s office, visit www.portercountyassessor.com or www.facebook.com/PorterCountyAssessor.