Rep. Jacque Clements (R-Frankfort) offered an amendment to the bill when it passed through the House of Representatives to eliminate an October mailing by the County Auditor's office, which was scheduled to begin mailing in the fall of 2010. "The original intent of this notice was to inform taxpayers of the difference between the current year and the previous year's taxes at budget time. However, many local units adopt inflated budgets and tax rates to avoid lose if an error is made, making the information contained in this notice all estimated information, which could cause confusion and sometimes panic to the taxpayers." Since the creation of this October notice, the annual tax bill has been changed and it now contains the comparison information. "The elimination of this October notice will save counties thousands of dollars. On average, it costs $0.70 per parcel to mail this notice in Howard Co. and therefore saves the county more than $30,000." |
