Kosciusko County property owners may have their tax bills in less than a month.
County Auditor Sue Ann Mitchell told the county council Thursday her office received property tax rates earlier this week.
"We're hopeful we can print bills the last week of June and mail them the first week of July," Mitchell said.
Mitchell said she and her staff are studying the rates to determine if property values in the county went up or down this year, and what the tax impact will be. This will help the auditor determine a collection date.
"We can set it at 15 days," Mitchell said, "but, if a lot of people's taxes go up, we might think of 30 or 40 days so people have a little longer to come up with the money."
Homeowners who qualify for the Homestead Credit will receive a state refund this year. The state legislature passed a bill requiring counties to distribute refund checks to all owners of Homestead Credit property. Mitchell said her office will send out 22,000 checks at a cost of $15,000 to the county.
The refund money will come from revenue the state makes selling slot machine licenses to racetracks. The money will be dispersed to each county toward the end of the year. Mitchell said it's still unknown how much of a refund each property owner will get. She said she would like to mail checks by the end of the year or early next year.
