Attorney Christopher Buckley, the Porter County Assessor/PTABOA (Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals) Attorney has completed the response brief as due in the above tax appeal.
The case, the highest tax appeal since Porter County Assessor Jon Snyder was sworn into office on January 1, 2011, centers on an important issue involving all assessors around the State of Indiana, and directly affects Indiana’s millions of taxpayers.
Thorsness v. Porter County Assessor, 49T10-1102-TA-14 (Ind. Tax) was filed pursuant to the final determination of the Indiana Board of Tax Review issued December 29, 2010. The main issue is over a statute passed by the Indiana General Assembly in 2009 shifting the burden of proof in tax appeals before the local PTABOA to the assessor in cases where the tax assessment changes by greater than five percent (5%). The Petitioner argues that this statute should be read to have retroactive effect to apply in all pending cases before the local body. The assessor, represented by Attorney Christopher A. Buckley, argues however, that the statute, absent a clear and convincing intent otherwise, is not to apply retroactively.
The hearings at the first two levels presumed that the taxpayer had the burden to prove that the assessed value was incorrect, but cited evidence provided by the Porter County Assessor that suggested, in fact, that the assessment should be presumed to be correct. The Petitioner argues that this burden was improper, and therefore, that the determination reached by the respective bodies at the lower administrative levels should be reversed.
The final deadline for the Petitioner’s Reply Brief is tomorrow, June 15, 2011. Oral arguments will be presented by the attorneys for the respective parties in August 2011 in Merrillville, Indiana.
