indianapolis -- With property values in Indiana being reassessed for the first time in six years, Laura Hile said she expected that the tax bill for her modest three-bedroom home would be big.
After all, state officials had warned residents to expect an increase of as much as 24%.
But when the bill arrived this summer, Hile's annual taxes were almost 200% higher than before -- an extra $3,000 a year.
It's more than she can afford to pay.
"I can't afford to keep my house," said Hile, 48, a medical writer for pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly & Co. "I feel very stuck, and I'm very afraid. For the first time in my life, I'm thinking about just walking away from everything."
She's not alone.
Indiana homeowners are waging war against a system they see as inconsistent and unfair. Many politicians agree with their view. Property tax revenue traditionally helps fund local governments, which set the amounts and help distribute the money to local entities that provide services.
In Indiana, state officials said, there are about 1,000 local township assessors. These elected officials are responsible for, among other tasks, evaluating a property's worth and sending that information on to the state's 92 county assessors, who use the assessments to help set the property tax bills.
State law requires that assessments be based partly on a property's market value, how much it could be sold for. But not all assessors follow state guidelines on how local tax assessments should be conducted -- or are even formally trained to do the job in the first place, said Gov. Mitch Daniels.
"As a result, the process can be unfair," Daniels said in a recent interview. "The local assessments are in some cases outright botched."
The public outcry has grown so loud that a commission has been established -- headed by Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard and former Gov. Joseph E. Kernan -- to seek ways to fix the problem.
Rising property taxes have long been an issue nationwide, particularly in regions where property values have increased dramatically. In Indiana, some lawmakers say they are looking at putting a cap on property tax rates, and examining the model of California's controversial Proposition 13.
Others have suggested the state should abolish property tax altogether. And at least one state legislator is pushing for Indiana to start taxing property owned by charities, including church-run hospitals, private schools and universities.
