Ex-Jewelry Store Operators Lose Tax Appeal
Jennifer Nelson for www.theindianalawyer.com
The operators of a former jewelry store in central Indiana were unable to convince the Indiana Tax Court they are entitled to more than $160,000 in sales tax refunds.
J.S. Marten Inc., Janice S. Marten and Christopher M. Marten appealed the Indiana Department of State Revenue’s denial of their claim for refund of sales tax remitted for 2004, 2005 and 2006 tax years. They paid $162,529.11 in sales tax for those years in 2008; four years later, the Martens sought a refund of all but $132.77 that they remitted. The DOR denied the refund in October 2012 and the Martens initiated their tax appeal in January 2013.
The DOR argued that the tax court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over this appeal because the Martens didn’t timely file a claim for a refund of sales tax. But that does not doom the Tax Court from hearing the matter, as it has exclusive subject matter over all original tax appeals, Senior Judge Thomas Fisher pointed out. Subject matter jurisdiction does not depend on the sufficiency or correctness of the averments in the petition.
But the Martens’ failure to timely state a claim upon which relief can be granted does doom their appeal. They paid the sales taxes in question in 2008 but did not seek a refund until 2012. Statute requires a person to file a refund claim within three years of the due date of the return or the date of payment.
“The facts alleged in the Martens’ petition do not rebut the fact that their refund claim was not timely filed nor do they raise an alternative basis for relief,†Fisher wrote. “Accordingly, the Department’s Motion to Dismiss on the basis that the Martens failed to state a claim upon which relief can be granted is hereby GRANTED.â€
The matter is J.S. Marten, Inc., Janice S. Marten, and Christopher M. Marten v. Indiana Department of State Revenue, 49T10-1301-TA-8.
DAYLIGHT LOSING TIME by Jim Redwine
Gavel Gamut
By Jim Redwine
(Week of 23 November 2015)
DAYLIGHT LOSING TIME
Peg came into my study and said, “What are you doing with that legal pad you are holding up to the east window?†I tried to stop her but she grabbed it out of my hand and read my “Injunction to the Sunâ€.
Realizing I was busted, I tried to explain my plan to combat the ever-encroaching and ever-earlier darkness. As with any good judicial decision I cited precedent:
The Egyptian god Ra was responsible for the bounty of the sun. I saw no harm in soliciting his help;
Phoebus Apollo’s job for both the Greeks and Romans was to pull the sun across the sky with his chariot. Who knows? It couldn’t hurt; and
I even called upon those contemporary gods, The Beatles, and set forth the lyrics to “Here Comes the Sunâ€.
Not wishing to give Peg even more ammunition for a commitment hearing or, at least, to demand I straighten up the study, I told her I was aware of the Anglo-Saxon King Canute’s futile command to stop the tides; he got wet.
However, I was desperate for relief from the idiocy of whoever is responsible for my bedtime slowly inching ever closer to 8 o’clock postmeridian. For goodness sake, I barely get home from work before the “Dark Pall of Oblivion†turns a daytime opportunity into Orpheus Descending.
“Be all that as it may be, why on earth are you railing against the sun? Don’t you think you’re a little beyond your jurisdiction? This reminds me of this past spring when you were standing out in the yard cursing and threatening the dandelions. As I recall, they multiplied like, well, dandelions, thereafter. That attempt at stopping Mother Nature was also a spectacular failure. In fact, people were stopping to take photographs of the exceptional crop you incited with your extreme volume of carbon dioxide.â€
Ah, Gentle Reader, need I point out the inequity of such treatment? Anyway, the Winter Solstice is only a couple of lifetimes away. I’ll just have to avoid straight razors and hemlock until then.
St. Mary’s HEALTH recognized with Gold-Plus Award for heart failure care
St. Mary’s has received the Get With The Guidelines®–Heart Failure Gold-Plus Quality Achievement Award for implementing specific quality improvement measures outlined by the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Foundation’s secondary prevention guidelines for patients with heart failure. St. Mary’s has been recognized with different levels of the GWTG Quality Achievement Awards since 2006.
Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure is a quality improvement program that helps hospital teams provide the most up-to-date, research-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and reducing hospital readmissions for heart failure patients. Launched in 2005, numerous published studies have demonstrated the program’s success in achieving patient outcome improvements, including reductions in 30-day readmissions.
St. Mary’s earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of heart failure patients at a set level for a designated period. These measures include evaluation of the patient, proper use of medications and aggressive risk-reduction therapies. These would include ACE inhibitors/ARBs, beta-blockers, diuretics, anticoagulants, and other appropriate therapies. Before patients are discharged, they also receive education on managing their heart failure and overall health, get a follow-up visit scheduled, as well as other care transition interventions.
“St. Mary’s is dedicated to improving the quality of care for our heart failure patients, and implementing the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines–Heart Failure program helps us to accomplish this goal by tracking and measuring our success in meeting internationally-respected guidelines,†said Dr. Javier Jurado, Cardiologist at St. Mary’s Medical Group Cardiology.
“We are pleased to recognize St. Mary’s for their commitment to heart failure care,†said Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D., M.P.H., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines steering committee and Executive Director of Interventional Cardiovascular Programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Studies have shown that hospitals that consistently follow Get With The Guidelines quality improvement measures can reduce patients’ length of stays and 30-day readmission rates and also reduce disparity gaps in care.â€
According to the American Heart Association, about 5.7 million adults in the United States suffer from heart failure, with the number expected to rise to eight million by 2030. Statistics show that each year about 870,000 new cases are diagnosed and about 50 percent of those diagnosed will die within five years. However, many heart failure patients can lead a full, enjoyable life when their condition is managed with proper medications or devices and with healthy lifestyle changes.
 Indiana State Trooper Receives the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s Silver Anniversary Team Award
Indiana State Police Officer Kyle Mitchell was recently honored (November 14th) with the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s Silver Anniversary Team Award, presented to him on the playing field of Indiana State University’s (ISU) Memorial Stadium.
Mitchell was originally inducted in 2009, but no one knew where to find him. After graduating from ISU, he moved to Canada to pursue a professional football career in the Canadian Football League (CFL) where he played from 2006-2009. While in the CFL Mitchell played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and briefly with the British Columbia Lions (B.C. Lions). While a member of the Roughriders, the team won the Grey Cup Championship in 2007. For those not aware, this is the Canadian equivalent to the NFL Super Bowl.
The Silver Anniversary Awards are presented each year by the American National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to recognize six distinguished former student-athletes on their 25th anniversary of the end of their intercollegiate athletics eligibility.  Nominees must have received a varsity letter at an NCAA member institution and achieved personal distinction since his or her graduation. Selection criteria are weighted, 40 percent to the nominee’s status as a prominent collegiate athlete and 60 percent to the nominee’s career achievement.  The award is considered one of the most prestigious in the world of collegiate sports.
Tpr. Kyle Mitchell now shares the honor of being a Silver Anniversary Award winner with other notable recipients such as: Bo Jackson (Auburn University), Troy Aikman (UCLA-Football), Doug Flutie (Boston College – Football), Sean Payton (Eastern Illinois – Current New Orleans Saints Head Coach), Warren Moon (University of Washington), Steve Young (Brigham Young –Football), Mike Singletary (Baylor University), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (UCLA-Basketball), Dick Butkus (University of Illinois), Rodney Harrison (Western Illinois), Bob Griese (Purdue Anniversary), and Kurt Warner (University of Northern Iowa).
Kyle Mitchell is the Fourth Indiana State Sycamore to receive this award in the history of the ISU Football program. While in College, his position Coach and Mentor Coach Shannon Jackson was also a recipient of the Silver Anniversary Award in 1999.  Kyle Mitchell broke Shannon Jackson’s All-Time Career Sack Record and Tackle For Loss (TFL) record during his tenure at ISU.
While at ISU, Mitchell also had other notable achievements:
·        “All-Newcomer†Team recipient for the Gateway Football Conference
·        “All New-Comer of the year runner-up
·        Three-Time First Team All-Conference Award
·        Pre-Season All-American
·        Three-Time Most Valuable Player Award on ISU
·        Four-Time Verizon Scholar Athlete
·        Voted Four-Time Team Captain on ISU
·        Three-Time National Dean’s List for Academics
·        Three-Time All-Academic Team
·        All-Academic Representative for ISU Football Program.
When asked what he attributed his success to, Mitchell said, “My Father is a retired Marine and my Mother passed away of breast cancer before I picked up a football. The discipline that they instilled in me as a youth, has assisted me throughout my life. Competing heavily in collegiate sports, coupled with a strong academic background was transferable to my career with the Indiana State Police.â€Â Mitchell concluded, “The discipline, self-drive, and work ethic instilled by parents, coaches, and support of my teammates, helped me continue to strive for greatness.â€
The Indiana State Police is fortunate to have people the caliber of Tpr. Kyle Mitchell wearing the uniform of the Indiana State Police, where he presently serves as a recruiter for the department.
PHOTO Legend:
1.      Trooper Kyle Mitchell
2.      Kyle Mitchell (R) with award accompanied by ISU Director of Athletics Ron Pettyman (L)
3.      Kyle Mitchell (ISU #92) in Hot Pursuit
4.      The Award
First Security Inc. Announces Record Third Quarter and Year to date 2015 Results
First Security Inc., the bank holding company for First Security Bank, Inc., announced another record performance for the third quarter and first nine months of 2015.
“We are excited to report a record third quarter net income, the largest quarterly earnings recorded in our Company’s history. Our investment in growth continues to fuel the significant increase in earnings during 2015,†stated M. Lynn Cooper, President and Chief Executive Officer.
Highlights of the quarter include:
- ï‚· Â Earnings – Third quarter earnings were $1.2 million, up $189,000 or 19% as compared to the third quarter of 2014. Year to date earnings for 2015 were $3.0 million, up $1 million or 50% as compared to the same period in 2014.
-   Credit Quality – The Bank’s credit quality continues to be better than many of its peers. With Non Performing Assets at 0.57%, the lowest level in over 4 years, the Company’s significant loan growth has occurred without compromising credit quality.
-   Business of the Year Award – On behalf of First Security, Steve Witting, President of the Evansville Region, accepted the Southwest Indiana Chamber of Commerce 2015 Small Business of the Year Award.
- ï‚· Â Cash Dividend – A dividend was declared of $.17 per share payable to shareholders of record November 15, 2015, our 49th consecutive dividend.
1
“Our third quarter earnings of $1.2 million provided a new record, reflecting the highest net income ever posted during any quarter of any year during the Company’s history. With net income of $3.0 million during the first nine months of 2015, the Company has almost surpassed the total net income of $3.1 million reported for all of 2014,†further commented Mr. Cooper.
The third quarter 2015 financial report of First Security is enclosed. Financial highlights for the third quarter as compared to the prior years third quarter follow.
- ï‚· Â Assets at quarter end total $580 million, representing an increase of 9%
- ï‚· Â Loans and Deposits – Loans increased 13%, while deposits increased 10%
- ï‚· Â Tangible Book Value increased $1.55 or 7%
- ï‚· Â Net Income increased $189,000 or 19%
- ï‚· Â Provision for Loan Losses increased $15,000 or 4%
- ï‚· Â Net Interest Income increased $684,000 or 16%
- ï‚· Â Net interest margin increased from 3.50% to 3.68%, an increase of 18 points
- ï‚· Â Non-Interest Income declined $72,000 or 6%
- ï‚· Â Non-Interest Expense increased $297,000 or 8%
- ï‚· Â Efficiency ratio declined to 65.6% as compared to 67.4%. This ratio indicates how much
in expense occurred during the period for every $1 of revenue produced by the
Company.
- ï‚· Â Non-Performing Assets to total assets were 0.57% at the end of September 2015, an
improvement of 0.27% from the prior year’s ratio of 0.84%.
- ï‚· Â Return on Assets improved from 0.75% to 0.81%
- ï‚· Â Basic Earnings-Per-Share was $0.49 per share as compared to $0.44 per share, up 11%.
“With strong capital and good earnings, we believe we are building a franchise that positions us well for many years to come. Ensuring that we utilize our capital well is very critical and important. We are keenly focused on balancing our investments while still providing solid, long- term returns for our shareholders,†stated Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Michael F. Beckwith.
Miranda notches 11 kills in loss to Missouri State
Genesis Miranda recorded a team-high 11 kills as the University of Evansville volleyball team fell by a 3-0 final to Missouri State on Friday evening.
Miranda was the top performer for the Aces, recording 11 kills on 38 attempts, hitting .184. Stephanie Cerino was next up with six kills. Kim Deprez posted a team-high 16 digs while Lorena Marquez had 17 assists. Lily Johnson led everyone with 20 kills. Her tally of 20 came in 34 attempts as she had just three errors to hit .500.
Evansville held its own in the early moments of the first frame, but with the score tied at 8-8, Missouri State made its run in a big way. They finished the game on a 17-5 run to take a 25-13 win.
In the second game, the Aces put forth their best effort of the night. A Mildrelis Rodriguez kill saw the Aces take a 9-6 lead. A 4-0 stretch put the Bears back on top at 10-9 before they went up by six at 18-12. A 7-1 run got UE right back in the game. Miranda starred in the run, posting a kill and service ace. Johnson got the Bears back on track as she notched two in the final five points to lead MSU to a 25-22 triumph.
The Bears utilized another unbelievable run to clinch the match and take the third set by a final of 25-12. A Miranda kill got UE within one at 10-9 before Missouri State reeled off four in a row. Their game-ending 15-3 run clinched the match.
Tomorrow, Evansville completes the 2015 season with a 7 p.m. match at Wichita State.
Swimming and diving wraps up first day in Indy
A busy first day of action took place as the University of Evansville swimming and diving teams opened up the House of Champions in Indianapolis.
The men performed well in the 200 free relay, coming in third place. Everett Plocek, Ethan O’Rourke, Matt Duke and Matt Childress combined to swim a 1:24.56. Plocek registered a solid finish in the 50 free. His final of 21.58 put him in 12th place overall.
In the 400 medley relay, O’Rourke and Plocek joined Dan O’Brien and Troy Burger to record an 8th place with their time of 3:27.71.
Evansville’s women also did well in the 200 free relay. Mackenzie Harris, Maja Magnusson, Kristen Myers and Michaela Kent teamed up to take 4th place out of 19 teams with their effort of 1:36.78. On her own, Kent came home in 9th in the 50 free, swimming a 24.00.
UE’s women did well in the 400 medley relay as Kent, Amy Smith, Charlotte Lechner and Harris took 8th with a 3:58.56.
Maja Magnusson came in sixth place in the 500 free. Her time checked in at a 5:08.45 out of the 24 participants in the final. Jessi Hildebrand took 15th in the event, swimming a 5:18.52.
Vanderburgh County Recent Booking Records
