LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Let’s Fix That Tax Sale: 3rd In A Series

Let’s Fix that Tax Sale: 3rd in a series

by George Lumley-All Rights reserved

Top Secret Special Interest

Two weeks ago I exposed that people actually want the tax sale properties.  This week I would like to expose another false claim that the county does not want these properties; that they are just a liability; and the best course of action is to give them away to the private Brownfields Corporation.

I have questioned in the past about the city and county working together in everyone’s best interest versus working for someone’s special interest.  After attending the County Commissioners meeting and the County Council meeting I am scratching my head and wondering if the County can even work with itself for everyone’s best interest.  The tapes of these meetings are available.  You do not have to take my word for it – If you like the Days of our Lives soap on TV (my favorite) you may like the drama and mystery that unfolds in these meetings.

First I attended the County Commission meeting. To summarize the meeting Bruce Ungenthiem partially affirmed what he said in the C&P article about the recent excess property sale (tax sale).  He had told the C&P that He would meet Monday with County Office Holders and discuss the tax sale issue.  I tried to solicit what Commissioner Ungenthiem had learned in these discussions but he seemed to think that was top secret and none of my business.  I asked what officials he met with and he would not even disclose that.  He did disclose that he met with “one” but would not state who that was.  All top secret.  When I asked about public input Commissioner Kiefer shut me down saying that I was just one person and had no voice.  He indicated that for me, or I guess any citizen, that one would have to have the support of the United Neighborhood Associations of Evansville.  I am a dues paying member of several neighborhood associations; attend their meetings regularly; and everyone has been very supportive of my effort with the exception of a couple of individuals with close ties to the Mayor and DMD.  DMD owns the Brownfields.

There appears to be a lot of close ties.  When I attended one of the secretive Brownfields meetings the attorney advising them appeared to be the same attorney advising the commissioners on tax sale issues.  I wonder if he would be interested in talking about everyone’s best interest concerning the tax sale.

So it appears that Commissioner Ungenthiem who was the county representative on the mayors blight task force is still trying to pursue the plan of funding the Brownfields land bank expansion.  Not only did the mayor’s task force plan ask for a gift from the Riverboat fund of 2.7 million but also a couple of hundred thousand in funding from the county in the form of gifting the tax delinquent properties. This is akin to the Roberts stadium fiasco.  A few people decide and then force their will on the rest of Evansville.  I guess if Bruce Ungenthiem and Joe Kiefer have already decided to go along with the mayor, it is a done deal.  No discussion. No public input. No consideration of the new laws passed in the last couple of years that would make these county assets even more valuable to the taxpayers while promoting the elimination of blighted properties.

Appearing that everyone’s best interest was effectively stimmed by 2 thirds of the Commissioners I thought I would try my luck at the County Council budget hearing.  They are supposed to be interested in money for the county.

The County Council meeting started with council members going out of their way to make a statement that finances were very tight and they would barely squeak through the year.  Councilman Tom Shetler Jr made a brilliant statement about conserving for next year.  The county recorder appeared and negotiated to save employee jobs and pay necessary expenses. I had picked the perfect time to pitch the council on where they could find hundreds of thousands in revenue without raising taxes or cutting employees from the budget.

I explained that the tax sale process (the sale of the lien and the actual sale of the property) used to collect bad debts has only been generating a couple of hundred thousand a year; however, legislated changes in the tax sale process allows better management of these properties and if implemented as designed would increase the value of the properties and revenues to the county by a multiple of two, three, or four.  The $200,000 the county gets from these properties could easily be turned into $600,000.

No, it is not a pyramid scheme or magic.  The added value is simply achieved by implementing new concepts legislated over the last three years. Under pressure to fight blight the State Legislature has debated public land banking and tax sale reform.  State legislation provided new tools to take these tax delinquent properties to market quicker and market them as something of value.  Where a tax delinquent property may have sat for a couple of years getting the windows knocked out, doors kicked in, vandalized, and generally run down to the point of no return before being sold as a sight unseen grab-bag to uninformed buyers, the new tools allow the county to take control of the properties within six months.  At this point the properties have a much higher value.  The properties can be sold without the option for redemption and the buyer would have immediate possession.  Rather than a grab-bag of unknown liabilities selling to ill-informed buyers, the properties can be marketed to appropriate, well informed buyers.  The new legislation even defined a new type of deed for these properties to make them much more marketable.

The land banking concept was entertained but defeated largely because of the cost to taxpayers and abuses demonstrated by the Marion County land bank operation.

I got a positive response from council members that they do want the tax sale properties.  They don’t actually want the properties but they do seem interested in everyone’s best interest to collect the tax value the properties represent while also helping with the fight against the blight.

To summarize the Commissioners meeting it appears a secret deal has been struck and I will have to go to the meetings to present the information that is in everyone’s best interest that commissioners Bruce Ungenthiem and Joe Kiefer are choosing to ignore in favor of their predetermined special interest.