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Saturday, November 10, 2007
Ind. Decisions - More on: Tax Court dismisses property tax challenge
Charles Wilson of the AP reports today on yesterday's Indiana Tax Court decision in the case of Mel Goldstein, et al. v. Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, et al. (see ILB entry here). Some quotes:
A judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's property tax system, ruling that homeowners who filed the case had not exhausted administrative remedies.The lawsuit filed in Indiana Tax Court questioned statewide assessment methods, the use of tax abatements and claimed that the system does not comply with the state constitutional requirement of a "uniform and equal rate of property tax assessment and taxation." It also challenged Daniels' authority to extend a statutory deadline for counties to adopt higher local income taxes to offset property taxes. * * *
"This court is acutely aware of the public's discontent with the purported inadequacies of Indiana's property assessment and taxation system," Indiana Tax Court Judge Thomas Fisher wrote in the 11-page ruling. "What the petitioners are asking the court to do, however, is to create and confer upon itself subject matter jurisdiction where subject matter jurisdiction does not exist. This the court cannot do."
The tax court's jurisdiction is limited by state law and higher court rulings to cases arising from decisions of the Indiana Department of State Revenue and the Indiana Board of Tax Review, Fisher wrote. He also wrote that he lacked standing to rule on constitutional issues under current law.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 10, 2007 08:31 AM
Posted to Indiana Decisions