Survey: Property taxes drop for 18 legislators

newsroom@newsandtribune.com

May 09, 2008 12:24 pm

—

DOWNLOADS

DETAILS

Here’s a look at the change in property-tax bills from 2006 to 2007 for area state legislators.
• Rep. Bill Cochran, D-New Albany — Cochran’s bill increased 39 percent, from $769.76 to $1,071.32. Cochran told reporters from Franklin College his bill went up 10 to 12 percent.
• Sen. Jim Lewis, D-Charlestown — Lewis bill increased 20.3 percent, from $1,120.44 to $1,347.69
• Sen. Connie Sipes, D-New Albany — Sipes’ bill increased 62.4 percent, from $1,111.36 to $1,804.62. Sipes told reporters from Franklin her bill went up 60 percent.
• Rep. Steve Stemler, D-Jeffersonville — Stemler’s bill increased 33.9 percent, from $2,481.06 to $3,321.31. Stemler told reporters from Franklin his bill went up 58 percent.
• • •
Editor’s Note: In January, a group of Franklin College journalism students spent the month reporting on the Indiana General Assembly and surveyed the 150 members of the Indiana Legislature about the change in their property taxes.

By EVAN SHIELDS
Newsroom@newsandtribune.com
Back in January, property taxes were the hot-button issue. Many Indiana residents experienced a dramatic increase in their property-tax amounts.
Franklin College student reporters asked legislators whether their taxes went up or down, and how much the assessment changed from year to year. Students checked the figures against public records.
Nineteen legislators’ information was unavailable because of county records not being available online or errors in the database. The database provides information about all property-tax information in the state.
Eighteen legislators had their tax bill go down from the 2005 assessment to the 2006 assessment. Of those 18, four acknowledged their taxes went down in the survey. Of those four, one was precise in the amount his taxes went down.
Sen. Robert Jackman, R-Milroy, told the students his taxes went down roughly 2 percent between the two years. His taxes went down 4 percent. Sen. Jeff Drozda, R-Westfield, experienced the biggest decrease in property taxes between the two years, as his taxes dropped nearly 50 percent, according to public records. He told the students his taxes did not change.
Drozda left the Indiana Senate on April 18 and moved to South Carolina before reporters had a chance to contact him about this information.
Rep. Mara Candelaria-Reardon, D-Munster, told the students her taxes went up 30 percent. Her taxes actually went down 14 percent, according to public record. Several attempts were made to contact Candelaria-Reardon, but she was out of town and unable to reply.
Rep. Bruce Borders, R-Jasonville, told the Franklin students his property taxes went up 27 percent. His net tax went down 10.5 percent, according to public record.
Borders said he got his years mixed up.
“[The tax bill] went up 28 percent from 2005 to 2006, but we did experience a decrease the next year,” he said.
In fact, from 2005 to 2006, most homes in Wright Township in Greene County — which is in Borders’ district — experienced a big increase in property-tax bills.
Rep. Charlie Brown, D-Gary, told the students his taxes went up 40 percent. His taxes went down 5 percent, according to public records. Rep. Ralph Foley, R-Martinsville, told the students his taxes went up, but he was unsure about the amount. His taxes went down 23 percent, according to public records.
Of all the legislators polled, Rep. Clyde Kersey, D-Terre Haute, experienced the biggest increase. His taxes went up 446 percent, according to public record. The next closest increase was by Sen. John Nugent, R-Lawrenceburg. He experienced a 380 percent increase according to public record.
Rep. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend; Rep. Sandra Blanton, D-Orleans; Rep. Suzanne Crouch, R-Evansville; Rep. Nancy Dembowski, D-Knox; Rep. Richard Dodge, R-Pleasant Lake; Rep. Cleo Duncan, R-Greensburg; Rep. Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville; Rep. Jeff Espich, R-Uniondale; Foley; Rep. Thomas Saunders, R-Lewisville; Rep. Amos Thomas, R-Brazil; Sen. Timothy Lanane, D-Anderson; and Sen. Sue Landske, R-Cedar Lake, were the other legislators whose taxes went down.
— Evan Shields is a freelance journalist from Franklin College