Any remonstrances the Town of Merrillville received to try and stop an excess levy appeal weren’t given to the council in time to be included in the filing, but the council and the clerk-treasurer disagree over how they were supposed to be delivered.
The Town filed to the Department of Local Government Finance late Monday 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,” Town Manager Michael Griffin told the Town Council and the crowd on Tuesday night. It was a much smaller crowd than the October 8 meeting. The agency will review the appeal and possibly render a verdict by the end of the year, he said.
January explained the reason he didn’t sign the paperwork wasn’t “political;” he signed off on the budget when he “could’ve not signed it,” but not signing it would’ve forced the town to revert to the 2024 budget, and that “would’ve caused some damage to the town,” so he “did the right thing,” he said. But he refused to sign the appeal certification, he said, because while “everyone knows without a shadow of a doubt that there was overwhelming opposition to this appeal,” the council didn’t include that on the appeal.
“This is what these clowns put: ‘No’,” January said as he referenced a portion of the form that asked if there was any opposition or objection to the appeal, and if any public comments for or against it were received. “There was not one person from the town that is a resident who expressed support, and they wanted me to support it?”
January then accused the administration of characterizing the town as “about to be bankrupt,” even after Merrillville just received “the highest rating from the S&P for a $3 million bond.”
“I asked them to correct it; they didn’t,” January said.
“I need to correct something you did by omission, which I’ve noticed is an interesting trait you’ve developed,” Griffin said, to which January asked if Griffin was calling him a liar. “The preamble did not say that we could not carry out our functions … we’re saying (the town) wants to do better. Nothing in that document is a misrepresentation.”
January, meanwhile, needed to turn over to the council at least 10 remonstrance letters or petitions within seven days of the September 24 budget pre adoption hearing so that the council would then have seven days to respond before the October 8 adoption, according to state law. January said he collected 245 remonstrance letters, but since he didn’t give them to the council, they don’t exist for purposes of the appeal, Griffin said.
“If he’d have asked me, I’d have told him (how to handle the letters); if he’d read the notice, he would’ve seen the disclaimer,” Griffin said. “I take no joy in sharing that (January) departed in one of his responsibilities, but he’s raised the specter that, somehow, we filed something he couldn’t agree with while omitting some of the key things to give it context.”
To that, January said that this is his first 10 months and that he has read “the literature” and spoken to people downstate who asked him to submit the objections “when they were received.” As well, the town has video of the October 8 crowd objecting to the appeal, he said.
“It’s not just about what’s written on paper. In spirit, you all are lying,” said January, who later called a two-minute recess in the meeting to grab packets of remonstrance letters for the council from his office.
The Town Council on October 8 approved 4-2-1 — with Councilwomen Shauna Haynes-Edwards, D-2, and Leona Chandler-Felton, D-3 voting “No” and Keesha Hardaway, D-7, abstaining — its 2025 budget with a one-year emergency appeal that would allow it to hire up to 34 more firefighters and up to 25 more police officers. The emergency appeal, however, has little chance of getting approval from the Department of Local Government Finance, the Post-Tribune previously reported.
The levies for which the council asked are the “lowest amount possible,” and if they’re approved, property owners may see increases of anywhere from $130 to $479 per year. 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.
If the property tax bills are higher, it’s because they have been assessed higher and include other fees, such as conservancy and stormwater management.
The council also in a companion motion voted unanimously to extend the town’s “state of exigency” beyond the state of Indiana’s required seven days, to December 29. The measure affirms that the council understood the appeal was part of the budget ordinance it passed, Griffin said.
Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
