§ 6-1.1-4-31.5 — State conducted assessment or reassessment; notice; state contract with appraising firm; state review of contract; land values; contract payment; severability

Indiana § 6-1.1-4-31.5

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Art. 1.1: PROPERTY TAXES
• Ch. 4: Procedures for Real Property Assessment

Text

5. (a) As used in this section, "department"
refers to the department of local government finance.
(b) If the department makes a determination and informs local
officials under section 31(c) of this chapter, the department may order
a state conducted assessment or reassessment in the county subject to
the time limitation in that subsection.
(c) If the department orders a state conducted assessment or
reassessment in a county, the department shall assume the duties of the
county assessor. Notwithstanding sections 15 and 17 of this chapter, a
county assessor subject to an order issued under this section may not
assess property or have property assessed for the assessment or under
a county's reassessment plan prepared under section 4.2 of this chapter.
Until the state conducted assessment or reassessment is completed
under this section, the assessment or reassessment duties of the county
assessor are limited to providing the department or a contractor of the
department the support and information requested by the department
or the contractor.
(d) Before assuming the duties of a county assessor, the department
shall transmit a copy of the department's order requiring a state
conducted assessment or reassessment to the county assessor, the
county fiscal body, the county auditor, and the county treasurer. Notice
of the department's actions must be published one (1) time in a
newspaper of general circulation published in the county. The
department is not required to conduct a public hearing before taking
action under this section.
(e) A county assessor subject to an order issued under this section
shall, at the request of the department or the department's contractor,
make available and provide access to all:
(1) data;
(2) records;
(3) maps;
(4) parcel record cards;
(5) forms;
(6) computer software systems;
(7) computer hardware systems; and
(8) other information;
related to the assessment or reassessment of real property in the county.
The information described in this subsection must be provided at no
cost to the department or the contractor of the department. A failure to
provide information requested under this subsection constitutes a
failure to perform a duty related to an assessment or under a county's
reassessment plan prepared under section 4.2 of this chapter and is
subject to IC 6-1.1-37-2.
(f) The department may enter into a contract with a professional
appraising firm to conduct an assessment or reassessment under this
section. If a county entered into a contract with a professional
appraising firm to conduct the county's assessment or reassessment
before the department orders a state conducted assessment or
reassessment in the county under this section, the contract:
(1) is as valid as if it had been entered into by the department; and
(2) shall be treated as the contract of the department.
(g) After receiving the report of assessed values from the appraisal
firm acting under a contract described in subsection (f), the department
shall give notice to the taxpayer and the county assessor, by mail, of the
amount of the assessment or reassessment. The notice of assessment or
reassessment:
(1) is subject to appeal by the taxpayer under section 31.7 of this
chapter; and
(2) must include a statement of the taxpayer's rights under section
31.7 of this chapter.
(h) The department shall forward a bill for services provided under
a contract described in subsection (f) to the auditor of the county in
which the state conducted reassessment occurs. The county shall pay
the bill under the procedures prescribed by subsection (i).
(i) A county subject to an order issued under this section shall pay
the cost of a contract described in subsection (f), without appropriation,
from the county property reassessment fund. A contractor may
periodically submit bills for partial payment of work performed under
the contract. Notwithstanding any other law, a contractor is entitled to
payment under this subsection for work performed under a contract if
the contractor:
(1) submits to the department a fully itemized, certified bill in the
form required by IC 5-11-10-1 for the costs of the work performed
under the contract;
(2) obtains from the department:
(A) approval of the form and amount of the bill; and
(B) a certification that the billed goods and services have been
received and comply with the contract; and
(3) files with the county auditor:
(A) a duplicate copy of the bill submitted to the department;
(B) proof of the department's approval of the form and amount
of the bill; and
(C) the department's certification that the billed goods and
services have been received and comply with the contract.
The department's approval and certification of a bill under subdivision
(2) shall be treated as conclusively resolving the merits of a contractor's
claim. Upon receipt of the documentation described in subdivision (3),
the county auditor shall immediately certify that the bill is true and
correct without further audit and submit the claim to the county
executive. The county executive shall allow the claim, in full, as
approved by the department, without further examination of the merits
of the claim in a regular or special session that is held not less than
three (3) days and not more than seven (7) days after the date the claim
is certified by the county fiscal officer if the procedures in IC 5-11-10-2
are used to approve the claim or the date the claim is placed on the
claim docket under IC 36-2-6-4 if the procedures in IC 36-2-6-4 are
used to approve the claim. Upon allowance of the claim by the county
executive, the county auditor shall immediately issue a warrant or
check for the full amount of the claim approved by the department.
Compliance with this subsection constitutes compliance with IC 5-11-6-1, IC 5-11-10, and IC 36-2-6. The determination and payment
of a claim in compliance with this subsection is not subject to
remonstrance and appeal. IC 36-2-6-4(f) and IC 36-2-6-9 do not apply
to a claim submitted under this subsection. IC 5-11-10-1.6(f) applies
to a fiscal officer who pays a claim in compliance with this subsection.
(j) Notwithstanding IC 4-13-2, a period of seven (7) days is
permitted for each of the following to review and act under IC 4-13-2
on a contract of the department entered into under this section:
(1) The commissioner of the Indiana department of
administration.
(2) The director of the budget agency.
(3) The attorney general.
(k) If money in the county's property reassessment fund is
insufficient to pay for an assessment or reassessment conducted under
this section, the department may increase the tax rate and tax levy of
the county's property reassessment fund to pay the cost and expenses
related to the assessment or reassessment.
(l) The department or the contractor of the department shall use the
land values determined under section 13.6 of this chapter for a county
subject to an order issued under this section to the extent that the
department or the contractor finds that the land values reflect the true
tax value of land, as determined under this article and the rules of the
department. If the department or the contractor finds that the land
values determined for the county under section 13.6 of this chapter do
not reflect the true tax value of land, the department or the contractor
shall determine land values for the county that reflect the true tax value
of land, as determined under this article and the rules of the
department. Land values determined under this subsection shall be
used to the same extent as if the land values had been determined under
section 13.6 of this chapter. The department or the contractor of the
department shall notify the county's assessing officials of the land
values determined under this subsection.
(m) A contractor of the department may notify the department if:
(1) a county auditor fails to:
(A) certify the contractor's bill;
(B) publish the contractor's claim;
(C) submit the contractor's claim to the county executive; or
(D) issue a warrant or check for payment of the contractor's bill;
as required by subsection (i) at the county auditor's first legal
opportunity to do so;
(2) a county executive fails to allow the contractor's claim as
legally required by subsection (i) at the county executive's first
legal opportunity to do so; or
(3) a person or an entity authorized to act on behalf of the county
takes or fails to take an action, including failure to request an
appropriation, and that action or failure to act delays or halts
progress under this section for payment of the contractor's bill.
(n) The department, upon receiving notice under subsection (m)
from a contractor of the department, shall:
(1) verify the accuracy of the contractor's assertion in the notice
that:
(A) a failure occurred as described in subsection (m)(1) or
(m)(2); or
(B) a person or an entity acted or failed to act as described in
subsection (m)(3); and
(2) provide to the treasurer of state the department's approval
under subsection (i)(2)(A) of the contractor's bill with respect to
which the contractor gave notice under subsection (m).
(o) Upon receipt of the department's approval of a contractor's bill
under subsection (n), the treasurer of state shall pay the contractor the
amount of the bill approved by the department from money in the
possession of the state that would otherwise be available for
distribution to the county, including distributions of admissions taxes
or wagering taxes.
(p) The treasurer of state shall withhold from the money that would
be distributed under IC 4-33-12-6, IC 4-33-13-5, or any other law to a
county described in a notice provided under subsection (m) the amount
of a payment made by the treasurer of state to the contractor of the
department under subsection (o). Money shall be withheld from any
source payable to the county.
(q) Compliance with subsections (m) through (p) constitutes
compliance with IC 5-11-10.
(r) IC 5-11-10-1.6(f) applies to the treasurer of state with respect to
the payment made in compliance with subsections (m) through (p).
This subsection and subsections (m) through (p) must be interpreted
liberally so that the state shall, to the extent legally valid, ensure that
the contractual obligations of a county subject to this section are paid.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to create a debt of the state.
(s) The provisions of this section are severable as provided in IC 1-1-1-8(b).

Legislative History

As added by P.L.228-2005, SEC.12. Amended by P.L.146-2008, SEC.82; P.L.112-2012, SEC.22; P.L.86-2018, SEC.37; P.L.181-2023, SEC.2.