To protect and preserve their right to fair and equitable property tax assessments, taxpayers should understand the fundamentals of Indiana’s assessment system and how to challenge excessive valuations. If you own real...more
Indiana apartment owners and operators enter 2024 with new opportunities to lower their real property tax assessments. Under an updated law effective this year, Ind. Code § 6-1.1-4-39 (Section 39), for property tax assessment...more
Property tax assessments have sharply increased across Iowa, particularly for commercial and industrial property. One report in Polk County noted that “most commercial properties saw their valuations jump 18.9%.” That same...more
Taxpayers in Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana, may be in for an unpleasant surprise when property tax bills are mailed out in the coming days. Based on assessment data available on the Marion County Assessor’s website,...more
Indiana taxpayers with property that is or may be exempt from real or personal property tax have up to and including April 1 to file an exemption application (the Form 136, with supporting attachments). Exemptions are not...more
A taxpayer does not have to be a non-profit corporation for its property to qualify for Indiana’s charitable purposes exemption. The Indiana Board of Tax Review confirmed this in a final determination issued on November 9,...more
Appraisals can be costly to prepare, in terms of dollars spent and time invested. Taxpayers would be at a disadvantage if they were compelled in every case to pay for appraisals to support claims of excessive assessments....more
In conducting mass valuations, Indiana assessing officials generally apply the cost approach. The 2021 Real Property Assessment Manual states, “The Guidelines adopted by the Department of Local Government Finance provide...more
The Indiana General Assembly has gifted Hoosier landowners another property tax protection by assigning the burden of proof on appeal to the assessor responsible for changing a property’s land classification. The notice of...more
As we dive into the 2021 holiday season, I wanted to reflect over the next few weeks on a dozen (or so) gifts that have been given to Hoosier taxpayers by the Indiana General Assembly to protect them from excessive, unfair...more
In Muir Woods Section One Association, Inc., et al. v. Marion County Assessor (August 26, 2021), the Indiana Supreme Court concluded that, while determining value for the base rate of land may be a subjective determination,...more
Reports should “set out the main points in a series of short, crisp paragraphs. . . . Let us not shrink from using the short expressive phrase, even if it’s conversational.” Winston Churchill (as quoted in The Splendid and...more
Did you or your company open your property tax bill or assessment notice from an Indiana assessor this spring and experience sticker shock? If so – whether retail, office, apartments, industrial, or something else – you can...more
Indiana’s real and personal property tax exemption petitions (Form 136) are normally due on or before April 1st annually. On March 26, 2020, Indiana Governor Holcomb issued Executive Order 20-12, extending the deadline to...more
On March 19, 2020, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb issued Executive Order 20-05. Section 6(B) of the Order states...more
The annual exercise of filing real and personal property tax exemption applications is once again upon Indiana taxpayers, as the April 1 deadline for these applications draws near. If an application is required and not filed,...more
Assessor had spent little time with limited discovery prosecuting case -
Name: Marion County Assessor v. Stutz Business Center, LLC -
Date Issued: August 30, 2019 -
Property Type: Vacant land -
Assessment Years:...more
Name: Purdom v. Knox County Assessor, Knox County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals, and Indiana Board of Tax Review -
Date Issued: Feb. 11, 2020 -
Property Type: Single-family residence -
Assessment Date:...more
Name: Hebron-Vision, LLC v. Porter County Assessor -
Date Issued: October 28, 2019 -
Property Type: 80-unit apartment complex -
Assessment Years: 2012-2015...more
In Guthrie v. Clark County Assessor (August 13, 2019), Taxpayer challenged the 2018 assessment of her home, pole barn and other improvements before the Indiana Board of Tax Review....more
Name: Wigwam Holdings LLC v. Madison County Assessor -
Date Issued: May 8, 2019 -
Property Type: 220,000 SF building, including a natatorium, auditorium and 8,996 seat basketball facility...more
Last week I spoke at a seminar regarding recent developments involving Indiana property tax appeal procedures. Following are summaries of various rulings of the Indiana Board of Tax Review (“IBTR”) involving the burden of...more
The Indiana General Assembly concluded its 2019 legislative session last week, and several bills that passed address Indiana property tax issues, both procedural and substantive. Below is a high level summary of several...more
In Marion County Assessor v. Stutz Business Center, LLC (January 11, 2019), Owner fell short in its effort to cut short an appeal by a County Assessor challenging the Owner’s voluntary withdrawal of its 2012 to 2014 real...more
Name: Garrett LLC v. Noble County Assessor -
Date Issued: September 24, 2018 -
Property Type: Former foundry with environmental contamination...more