"I never said it was FAIR"

From Indiana Barrister:

Marion County lawmakers got a briefing tonight on the property reconciliation bills that are going out this week and when it’s all said and done homeowners will wish their property was under 10 feet of water.

According to one lawmaker, “this is not going to be pretty.”

The briefing was conducted by Marion County Treasurer Mike Rodman. Residents will see very little, if any relief in most cases.

The lawmaker, who asked not to be identified said, “the people who were the most vocal last summer will be the ones who see the least amount of relief.”

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz, June 9, 2008

This is a most interesting comment, and unfortunately I think I can attest to its veracity. Consider the following case:

In 2007 5 homeowners in the Cottage Home Neighborhood on the Near Eastside saw assessments increase approximately 4 times the previous years assessment. We were understandably upset. In fact, that was the spark that breathed life into this blog.

One of our neighbors saw their assessment jump to $225,000. Ours jumped to $256,000.

I attended all the rallies, filed an appeal, and spoke unkindly about the ability of the Center Township Assessor's Office to assess their way out of a paper bag. Our neighbors did none of these.

Now comes the reassessment.

My assessment dropped from $256,000 to $232,000.
My neighbors dropped from $225,00 to $141,300.

Futhermore, I can point to two other neighbors who exprienced similar decreases, one for $193,00 to $114,000 and another that went from $254,400 to $170,200.

So, did the petty little tyrants choose to drop the hammer on my wife and I for speaking up?

You bet they did.

BTW the title of this post is a comment my wife received from someone named Frank in the Center Township Assessor's Office when she pointed out the inequities of the original 2006 assessment.