Homestead Credit Rebates to be distributed soon
Comet staff report

Carroll County has received its share of monies for Homestead Credit Rebates to be distributed to Carroll County Homestead property owners, according to Carroll County Auditor Beth L. Myers. Myers said she is expecting another deposit soon from the state.

Last April to cushion the blow of reassessment, state lawmakers approved $300 million in short-term property-tax relief during the final hours of the 2007 legislative session.

In early November, the Department of Local Government Finance certified the amounts each county would receive to distribute to 1.6 million taxpayers statewide who were Homestead property owners with property ownership as of March 1, 2006. Rebate amounts were determined by a formula based in part on how many homeowners were eligible for exemptions in each county.

Carroll County has approximately 6,590 Homestead property owners. According to Myers, calculating, processing and distributing the rebate dollars will cost every county in the state.

With the assistance of the Indiana County Auditor's Association, a committee of county auditors and county treasurers explored ways to keep costs at a minimum to taxpayers. The committee reviewed four different vendor proposals.

According to Myers, some counties will utilize the same vendor for both tax billing and financials and will do the calculation and printing, stuffing and mailing of checks in-house. Other counties signed contracts with a vendor for $2.10 per homestead credit rebate. Carroll County will sign a contract with Boyce Forms and Systems of Daleville at a cost of 57¢ per homestead rebate.

The county auditor and county treasurer will maintain control of the process for auditing purposes.

"Checks will be written on our own bank and the county will earn interest on the state received money, thus off setting some of the expense of the whole process," said Myers.

"This team effort will be a savings of tax dollars to all taxpayers of Carroll County," she added.

The rebate calculation began after the Nov. 13 final installment property tax due date deadline.

Myers will calculate and certify by Dec. 20 all Homestead Credit Rebates to Treasurer Jane Brewington. The treasurer will have already applied penalties to unpaid taxes and will certify back to the auditor the delinquencies, penalties, liens and judgments that have been applied against the Homestead Tax Rebate. The auditor will then proceed with the printing and mailing of the rebate check or notice, whichever applies.

Every Homestead property owner will receive either a whole, or a partial rebate check, or a notice that will indicate the rebate amount that was applied towards the delinquency, penalty, lien or judgment, said Myers.

The public will be notified after the homestead rebate distribution date is set in early January.

"The individual certification and application of penalties, delinquencies, liens and judgments of the 6,590 parcels by both the auditor and the treasurer will take some time," said Myers. "This is a busy time of year for the auditor's office, with the final distribution and settlement of tax collection dollars to the various taxing units, along with the normal daily and year end procedures of the office. The Homestead Tax Rebate checks will be expedited in an efficient and timely manner to the best of our ability."

Homestead Credit Rebate recipients may want to forward the rebate dollar amount information to their tax preparer. If an individual itemizes income taxes, the rebate will be necessary in their tax preparation.

Myers urged all Homestead Credit Rebate recipients to deposit or cash their received checks immediately after receipt of the check. The checks will be void 180 days after date of issue.