Many property tax changes were made by the Indiana General Assembly under House Enrolled Act 1001 in 2008. One notable change was abolishing the duties of elected Township Assessors in most of the townships in Indiana. Effective July 1, 2008, in any Indiana township which on January 1, 2008 had fewer than 15,000 parcels of real property, all assessing duties previously held by the Township Assessors were transferred to the County Assessors in which such townships were located.

In townships with more than 15,000 parcels of real property as of January 1, 2008, the fate of the Township Assessor is yet to be decided. Under Indiana Code §36-2-15-5(e), a referendum is to be held in each such township as part of the general election in 2008 to determine whether to transfer to the County Assessor the assessment duties which would otherwise be performed by the elected Township Assessor. In such townships, those assessment duties are only to be transferred to the County Assessor if the majority of the individuals who vote in such referendum approve the transfer.

In some urban counties, such as Marion County, where several townships have enough parcels to be subject to referendum, it is entirely possible that some Township Assessors will be retained while the duties of other Township Assessors will be permanently transferred to the County Assessor, since this question will be decided on a township by township basis. The end result may be very confusing if some, but not all, Township Assessor offices continue to exist within a single county.

We will keep you posted on these developments.

Other Stories: