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Sunday, November 05, 2006
Ind. Law - "Assessment methodology not lawful, Verizon says"
"Assessment methodology not lawful, Verizon says" is the headline to a story by Benjamin Lanka that ran in the Oct. 26 Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. Some quotes:
The way Indiana determines the tax value of a company’s assets – such as office computers, assembly lines or printing presses – could be unconstitutional and should be more market-based, according to an attorney for Verizon.On Wednesday, Bradley Hasler, attorney for Bingham McHale, an Indianapolis law firm representing Verizon, challenged the constitutionality of how the state assesses personal property at an Allen County Property Tax Assessment Board hearing. Personal property is tangible assets held by a company.
The board is the local entity that hears complaints about the tax assessment of property. The higher a property is assessed, the more taxes the owner pays.
The argument comes just a few years after a Supreme Court mandate forced the state to shift the way it assessed real property – buildings and land. The original lawsuit prompting the change was filed in Lake County in 1993, but the issue was not finalized until 2001. * * *
Jane Howard, spokeswoman for Verizon, said the company’s complaint stemmed from a “difference in opinion” in the value assigned to old computer equipment at the company. State law allows personal property appeals to be confidential, so no numbers were disclosed regarding the value of the computers from the county versus what Verizon feels they are worth.
Hasler said other states use fair-market value to determine personal property’s tax worth.
Mark GiaQuinta, attorney for the township and county assessor, called the relief being sought by Verizon “extraordinary” and said Verizon was using Allen County as a test case to change the way personal property is assessed across the state. He said real property can be assessed at the market value because there are constant sales of homes and businesses to use as a base for those values.
“That doesn’t exist in the world of personal property unless and until we make the Peddler’s Post our Bible,” he said, referring to the publication listing various items for sale.
Mahlock said it would be next to impossible for her office to determine the value of different business equipment because there are so many types.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 5, 2006 04:46 PM
Posted to Indiana Law