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ATTORNEY FOR PETITIONER: TIMOTHY J. VRANA TIMOTHY J. VRANA, LLC Columbus, IN

ATTORNEYS FOR RESPONDENT: STEVE CARTER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF INDIANA ANDREW W. SWAIN SPECIAL COUNSEL, TAX SECTION JOHN D. SNETHEN DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL Indianapolis, IN ____________________________________________________________________

IN THE INDIANA TAX COURT
_____________________________________________________________________ DONALD COLLER, ) ) Petitioner, ) ) v. ) Cause No. 49T10-0601-TA-10 ) PERRY TOWNSHIP ASSESSOR, ) ) Respondent. ) _____________________________________________________________________ ON APPEAL FROM A FINAL DETERMINATION OF THE INDIANA BOARD OF TAX REVIEW NOT FOR PUBLICATION January 17, 2007 FISHER, J. Donald Coller (Coller) appeals the final determination of the Indiana Board of Tax Review (Indiana Board) valuing his real property for the March 1, 2002 assessment date. The sole issue before the Court is whether the Indiana Board erred in valuing Coller's improvement.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Coller owns residential real property in Perry Township, Monroe County, Indiana. Coller purchased the property in 1995. The property is located in a very desirable subdivision in Perry Township, where the existing houses were built in the late 1960's to the late 1970's and ranged in price from $200,000 to $400,000. After purchasing the property, Coller completely demolished the house thereon and built another house measuring over 8,100 square feet. For the 2002 assessment date, the Perry Township Assessor (Assessor) assigned Coller's property an assessed value of $1,543,200 ($50,600 for land and $1,492,600 for improvements). In arriving at that value, the

Assessor applied the same 1.60 neighborhood factor that was applied to the other properties in the surrounding neighborhood. 1 Believing his assessment to be too high, Coller filed a Petition for Review of Assessment (Form 130) with the Monroe County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA) alleging that the assessment of his improvement was incorrect

A neighborhood factor is applied to all residential and agricultural improvements. Indiana's assessment manual provides: The neighborhood factor accounts for the impact on value caused by physical characteristics in the neighborhood such as type and layout of streets, availability of support services, and utilities. It also takes [into] account the economic characteristics such as demand for property and mortgage interest rates; governmental characteristics such as police protection, fire protection, and zoning; and social characteristics such as crime rates, owner-occupant ratios, and family size. Neighborhood factors are assigned to each neighborhood based upon an analysis of residential properties that have sold within the neighborhood. REAL PROPERTY ASSESSMENT GUIDELINES FOR 2002

Download Donald Coller v. Perry Twp. Assessor.pdf

Indiana Law