Kosciusko County's Fraternal Order of Police is in the process of restructuring an organization that has no official place to meet.

The FOP building in Boggs Industrial Park was lost by the FOP after a series of incidents some attribute to misunderstandings and inattention to detail.

Others call it mismanagement.

Whatever the reason, the sequence of events began around 1992, when, despite several notices from the county auditor's office, the FOP failed to refile for its tax-exempt status on its property in Boggs.

The issue involves two pieces of property in Boggs: the lot where the former FOP building sits, and the small adjacent lot, which is now Mantis Skate Park.

According to county officials, the auditor's office is required to notify an organization before the tax exemption filing deadline. The auditor's office also must notify them 30 days after the deadline passed, and give the group yet another 30 days in which to file.

The FOP was notified that the filing for tax-exempt status was due and again when it passed, but did not file.

The property in Boggs Industrial Park was donated by the late Fred Boggs, area developer and owner of the industrial park. The FOP built their building in the early 1970s and paid it off with funds raised through the annual Grand Ole Opry fund-raising event and by renting out the building.

Boggs later donated a small plot of land adjacent to the FOP building to the organization. That plot is now the site of the Mantis Skate Park. The conditions of Boggs' donation included a provision that the land be used for recreational purposes and, since it was previously the site of a landfill, that no building be built there.

After failing to file the tax exemption, the FOP's problems escalated when the county began billing the organization for property taxes that the organization never paid.

As a result, both parcels were sold at a tax sale held in the Justice Building Oct. 24, 1995. The FOP owed $146.59 for the land where the skate park is located; the parcel was bought by Southtrust Estate and Trust Company, Indianapolis, for $1,100.

The land where the building sits had $5,663.16 in back taxes due. Southtrust paid $7,500 for that as well.

According to the county auditor's office, a person whose real estate is sold at a tax sale has one year from the date of the sale to redeem the property. However, to redeem the property, the past property owner must pay the delinquent taxes plus any subsequent taxes, plus 10 percent interest in the first six months after the tax sale and 15 percent interest in the second six months. They also must pay any costs incurred, such as charges for title searches and handling and attorney fees, by the party who bought the property,

On Oct. 7, 1996, near the one-year deadline after the tax sale, the FOP redeemed the small parcel, which is now the skate park. Kosciusko County Sheriff's deputy Tony Ciriello, then-president of the FOP, paid back taxes, penalties and expenses totalling $960.46.

But the building property was not redeemed.

Ciriello did not return calls from the Times-Union..

On Jan. 20, 1997, Southtrust took possession of the property where the former FOP building is located.

Southtrust has no phone number listing in Indianapolis, and attempts to contact them were unsuccessful.

The property is now listed for sale by Re/Max Realty for $79,500.

Some FOP members said they thought the taxes paid by Ciriello applied to both pieces of property. However, employees in the auditor's office said it was obvious that only the small parcel was redeemed.

"Everything was done by the book," said an employee of the auditor's office. "They did pay for one parcel. They shouldn't have been under the impression that they were paying for all of it - they knew they were only paying for one parcel."

They also said a property owner who owes delinquent taxes is notified four to six weeks before the tax sale that the property will be sold at auction. In addition, the delinquent amount would have been noted on the tax statements for the property. A property owner must be 15 months delinquent, or three installments, before the property is sold at tax sale.

An agreement in 1996 between then-mayor Jeff Plank and Ciriello allowed the parcel adjacent to the building to be used for the skate park.

The FOP and the city are now hammering out the details of an agreement that would deed the skate park to the city. Parks department superintendent Jon Garber said Tuesday that the agreement is expected to be final by the park board's meeting Aug. 18 meeting.

Some FOP members see the loss of the building as a financial relief for the organization.

"It was a blessing in disguise. The money we were taking in was used for the building and upkeep, and now we can do things for kids in the county instead of spending money on the building," said an FOP member who asked not to be identified.

One of the purposes of the FOP is to help area youth, the member said, but expenses for keeping up the building were eating into what the FOP could spend to help local kids.

Reid Piper, FOP president, said the organization sent 12 kids to Camp Mollenhour this year and is sponsoring a bicycle rodeo in Syracuse Aug. 29.

He said the FOP is in the process of reorganizing and restructuring, and now includes many young police officers in the county who are very enthused about the organization.

Currently, the FOP has 62 members.

"I think we will do a lot more in the future than we did in the past," Piper said, referring to the organization's emphasis on helping county youth.

"A lot of people think police officers are hardened to the world, and we're not." [[In-content Ad]]