Munster - Tax bill is based on $130,000 less than assessed value (Dyer: assessor, how much)

[munsterresident]

Is it a problem if someone owns a piece of property in Park West, Munster's most exclusive subdivision, where lots are selling for $260,000 to well over $300,000 and their tax bill for their lot is only basing the taxes on $4600 as the value of the property? They only have to pay $128 in taxes per year when they should pay over $8000 for this prime land.

The assessed value, as indicated on the website, is $134,600 (which in and of itself is ridiculous) and yet the TAX BILL (that used to be over $8000 a year) is now only $128 a year???? One hundred and twenty eight dollars a year for a property that, if sold today, would command over $260,000! If you go to that link that I have provided, you look under property information and, on the top line for the property it shows a value of $134,600 BUT when you look at the tax bill information it clearly shows that the treasurer is basing the taxes for this property on a value of $4,600. The tax bill used to be over $8,000 a year and was behind - over $12,000 was due - now only a bit over $400 is due. And that bit over $400 is even showing that it is past due too!

How does this happen? Follow this to get to the website exactly - use the web address that I have provided below. Before you do please note that the brackets with /url should NOT be included in your copy and paste AND the brackets next to the parcel number with /size in them should not be included - just the number. Those things get added by this website and I don't know how to get rid of them.

[url]http://in-lake-assessor.governmaxa.com/propertymax/rover30.asp?sid=7A46FB36B390427B9C338C41143A21D0[/url]

then choose GUEST ACCESS,
then START YOUR SEARCH
then choose BY PARCEL NUMBER (left hand column - it is an option that you have to click on) and
then put in this number: [SIZE=1]45-06-36-403-004.000-027[/SIZE]

Once you get there you will see, at the top of the form, that the assessed value of this property is $134,600. Now, look at the left hand column again and look for:

TAX RECORD and click on it - that will show you how much they are charging the owner in taxes and the assessed value they are basing it on. According to the assessed value, they should be basing it on $134,600, which is at least 1/2 of what the real value is BUT the are not, there is either a mistake or something else - it shows they are basing taxes for that land on only $4,600.

How would you like to own a $134,600 home and have the assessor be billing you for a home valued at only $4,600???? This land is not even entitled to any exemptions and it is only $128 in taxes!!!! What happened here?

[Northwest Indiana]

Originally Posted by munsterresident

Is it a problem if someone owns a piece of property in Park West, Munster's most exclusive subdivision, where lots are selling for $260,000 to well over $300,000 and their tax bill for their lot is only basing the taxes on $4600 as the value of the property? They only have to pay $128 in taxes per year when they should pay over $8000 for this prime land.

The assessed value, as indicated on the website, is $134,600 (which in and of itself is ridiculous) and yet the TAX BILL (that used to be over $8000 a year) is now only $128 a year???? One hundred and twenty eight dollars a year for a property that, if sold today, would command over $260,000! If you go to that link that I have provided, you look under property information and, on the top line for the property it shows a value of $134,600 BUT when you look at the tax bill information it clearly shows that the treasurer is basing the taxes for this property on a value of $4,600. The tax bill used to be over $8,000 a year and was behind - over $12,000 was due - now only a bit over $400 is due. And that bit over $400 is even showing that it is past due too!

How does this happen? Follow this to get to the website exactly - use the web address that I have provided below. Before you do please note that the brackets with /url should NOT be included in your copy and paste AND the brackets next to the parcel number with /size in them should not be included - just the number. Those things get added by this website and I don't know how to get rid of them.

Lake County Assessor

then choose GUEST ACCESS,
then START YOUR SEARCH
then choose BY PARCEL NUMBER (left hand column - it is an option that you have to click on) and
then put in this number: [SIZE=1]45-06-36-403-004.000-027[/SIZE]

Once you get there you will see, at the top of the form, that the assessed value of this property is $134,600. Now, look at the left hand column again and look for:

TAX RECORD and click on it - that will show you how much they are charging the owner in taxes and the assessed value they are basing it on. According to the assessed value, they should be basing it on $134,600, which is at least 1/2 of what the real value is BUT the are not, there is either a mistake or something else - it shows they are basing taxes for that land on only $4,600.

How would you like to own a $134,600 home and have the assessor be billing you for a home valued at only $4,600???? This land is not even entitled to any exemptions and it is only $128 in taxes!!!! What happened here?

There was an article about this in the newspaper and it is not only happening in Munster. It is happening in other places such as St. John, and Dyer. It was one of the things that was being addressed by the Lake County Assessor. If you look at properties in Estates of Wellington, Lake Hills, Briar Ridge (Shannon Bridge extension) or pretty much ANY new development, you will see the same issue. In many cases, some of these properties have been developed and are still being taxed as they were with no properties on them. In other cases, many properties are being taxed as they were BEFORE they were subdivided into buildable plots (aka way more expensive smaller pieces of land). As for properties being past due, some indeed are, but others (like ours) was paid on time yet, on the record, it stated that it was past due (despite never receiving any notice in the mail because it WAS NOT past due). The whole website is just one big mess. Some of the homes that were damaged and rebuilt in the Munster flood are still being shown as valued at only the LAND price whereas others have been picked up and updated.

Note: some properties are indeed, assessed much lower than what they would (or "should") command in reality. The market obviously will dictate what the owner of a property gets whether it be much higher, much lower, or the assessed value.

Here is the article to this issue: $300 million North Twp. tax error could cost businesses, delay all county bills

Hope this helps!