The Porter County Auditor’s Office has certified the net assessed values that will be used in the 2018 budgets and property tax bills.
Countywide, Porter County’s adjusted net assessed value totals $9.49 billion as of the certification date, an increase of 2.5% compared to 2017, said Porter County Auditor Vicki Urbanik.
The Auditor’s Office certified the values four days earlier than last year and was one of the first 30 counties in the state to certify, according to the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance online status map.
Urbanik said while she is pleased with the early certification, she remains a strong proponent of giving county auditors more time to certify after they receive the assessor data. The certified values represent the assessed values adjusted for factors such as abatements and deductions. The certified values help determine the tax rates that will be applied to property tax bills the following year.
“Because of the impact on budgets and tax rates, I believe that certification of the net assessed values is one of the most significant tasks that county auditors handle every year,” Urbanik said.
The certified values show that while the county’s personal property values remain relatively stable, real property assessed values jumped about 3.2%. The certified values also show the following:
- While most taxing districts saw their net assessed value increase, the values in 10 taxing districts decreased.
- The certified assessed value in TIF districts totals $788 million, an increase of about $47 million compared to 2017.
- The values include a new “municipal tax exempt” taxing district for 2018 due to an annexation by Valparaiso of agricultural property in Center Township.
With the values now certified, local taxing units can use the data in their 2018 budget process. The certification came after the Porter County Auditor’s Office completed the annual TIF neutralization study. Urbanik said that for the second year in a row, the Auditor’s Office completed the study in-house as a cost-saving measure.
The certified AVs are available online through the state’s information portal, Gateway, at www.in.gov/dlgf. In addition, the Auditor’s Office has distributed a certificate of net assessed value to each municipality, school corporation, library system, and township in Porter County.