Neither the Town of Merrillville nor its Fire Protection Territory will receive a levy boost from Department of Local Government Finance for 2025, as Town officials expected all along.
The DLGF denied the appeal November 13 via a seven-page opinion obtained by the Post-Tribune that said the Town “has not identified a natural disaster, an accident or other unanticipated emergency that warrants granting this excess levy” per state law. While not limited to just those situations, the DLGF “does expect the civil taxing (unit) to point to a specific, localized, quantifiable impact,” according to the document.
“The Town represents as an emergency a shortage of police and fire personnel. Such shortages do not constitute either a natural disaster or an accident, as the terms are commonly understood,” DLGF Commissioner Daniel Shackle wrote in the opinion. “The Town has also not demonstrated that the personnel shortages were unanticipated and are not capable of being addressed without an excess levy.”
Regarding the Fire Territory, Shackle wrote that the Town said the decision was made to keep the number of full-time staff to 14, “which has resulted in purported understaffing of the Fire Department due to the low number of volunteers. Additionally, the Town didn’t include a resolution approving the appeal submission from the Ross Township Board of Trustees as required by law, though it wouldn’t have mattered because Merrillville didn’t prove it has an emergency “for which the Town is entitled to relief” under the law, Shackle wrote.
Town Council President Rick Bella, D-5, and Town Manager Michael Griffin said Wednesday night they knew they weren’t presenting the DLGF an emergency as defined by state law, but it was the option that came the closest to addressing Merrillville’s needs. Still, the DLGF provided valuable feedback toward a larger process the Town plans to implement, Griffin said.
The Town filed to the Department of Local Government Finance late last month the certification paperwork asking for an emergency levy appeal – without the signature of Clerk-Treasurer Eric January, who didn’t sign it “for his reasons,” the Post-Tribune previously reported. To that point, Shackle wrote the Department “cannot find that there is a legal basis for rejecting the Town’s appeal outright.
“Indiana law states that a ‘civil taxing unit’ may submit an excess levy appeal, with or without specifying a particular officer of that unit to be the one to approve, endorse, certify or otherwise affirm the appeal being filed,” Shackle wrote. “Therefore, the Department cannot consider the absence of Clerk-Treasurer January’s signature alone is a basis for rejecting the Town’s appeal,” though Shackle did acknowledge that the disagreement between the council and January over the appeal “cannot be ignored.”
As for the 245 pages of resident objections January filed with the DLGF, Shackle said the objections must be considered, but the Department “cannot and will not evaluate claims such as alleged fiscal mismanagement, not using TIF revenue on salaries and wages or the use of loan proceeds to nonprofits,” as January and some residents allege, because it’s beyond the agency’s purview.
The Town did acknowledge there were objections, Shackle continued, but it wasn’t clear to him whether the Town received them before or after the October 22 meeting. January needed to turn over to the council at least 10 remonstrance letters or petitions within seven days of the September 24 budget pre adoption public hearing so that the council would then have seven days to respond before the October 8 adoption, according to state law (https://codes.findlaw.com/in/title-6-taxation/in-code-sect-6-1-1-17-5/).
But since he didn’t give them to the council — instead pausing the October 22 meeting to grab them from his office and present them then — they didn’t exist for purposes of the appeal, the Post-Tribune reported.
The Town did, however, contradict itself by answering “No” to questions asking whether it had knowledge of receiving the remonstrances, Shackle said.
January, who owns a financial services business in the former American Legion Post 430 building on Broadway and said on social media that he wants to rent out the hall with a bar in it if he can get a liquor license, announced the denial on social media Wednesday evening. He has previously said on social media that he has “invested considerable money in the location” and “will be affected” by any tax increase “in more than one way.”
“The town council must now pass a budget with a maximum growth of 4%,” January said in his Wednesday night post. “Hopefully, the budget meetings will be open to the public; however, that is not my decision. Let’s PARTAA!”
The levies for which the council asked were the “lowest amount possible,” and property owners might have seen increases of anywhere from $130 to $479 per year, the Post-Tribune previously reported. Property taxes are generated from the gross assessed valuation of a property, but by law, Indiana residents pay no more than 1% of assessed value for residential, 2% of assessed value for agricultural and 3% of assessed value for business properties.
Bella, in the meantime, suggested that Griffin hold another “Tax Talk” to go over municipal finance with residents who are interested in how it works. After this appeal, he’s more than happy to do so.
“It’s unfortunate that because of misunderstandings, (the appeal) became more complicated to explain. Mr. January was in the room when we said (we wouldn’t win the appeal and why),” Griffin said. “I would never do anything to harm taxpayers, and I would never do anything to bring opprobrium to the council.”
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
