State lawmakers reject proposal to fix Southlake Mall tax refund problem | State

Most senators seemed pleased with State Sen. Travis Holdman’s promise, R-Markle, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, that he will help resolve the issue informally in the coming weeks or consider amending the law early next year.

The issue stems from a September 22, 2021 Indiana Supreme Court ruling that ordered the property tax assessment for Southlake Mall to be reverted to its 2010 amount from the significantly higher assessments applied to the mall. for the 2011-14 tax years.

As a result of the assessment change, the mall owes a property tax refund totaling approximately $19 million from Hobart, Merrillville Schools, Lake County, Ross Township, the Public Library District of Lake County and Lake County Solid Waste District, which current state law requires be paid in one lump sum.

Melton proposed changing a single date in Indiana’s code to 2010 from 2014 to allow affected tax districts to repay money to the mall over 5 to 10 years as a credit on future property taxes instead of immediately cash.

A 2020 state law authorized the alternative method of refunding large property tax refunds for appraisals made after December 31, 2014. It is currently not available for the mall case because the relevant reassessment took place in 2011.

Melton warned that “catastrophic” impacts on utilities are likely if the law is not changed because neither the city nor the school district likely has enough cash to cover the lump sum payment and maintain operations.

“The goal is to give them the ability to make those payments responsibly,” Melton said.

The statutory change can still be added to House legislation, or almost any other measure under consideration in the rare summer special session of the General Assembly.