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PETITIONER APPEARING PRO SE:                ATTORNEYS FOR RESPONDENT:
GEORGE M. MOFFETT                                        GREGORY F. ZOELLER
Lakeville, IN                                         ATTORNEY GENERAL OF INDIANA
                      JOHN D. SNETHEN
JESSICA E. REAGAN
NANCY M. HAUPTMAN
                                                                           DEPUTY ATTORNEYS GENERAL
                                                                           Indianapolis, IN
  
_____________________________________________________________________

IN THE
INDIANA TAX COURT
_____________________________________________________________________

GEORGE M. MOFFETT, )
  )
Petitioner,  )
  )
                 v.  )      Cause No. 49T10-0810-TA-58    
  )
DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL  )
GOVERNMENT FINANCE, )
   )
Respondent.  )

_____________________________________________________________________

ON APPEAL FROM A FINAL DETERMINATION OF  
THE DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCE
_____________________________________________________________________
NOT FOR PUBLICATION
August 19, 2009
FISHER, J.

On September 10, 2008, the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) issued a final determination granting modified approval of the proposed lease rental agreement between the Union-North United School Corporation (the School Corporation) and the Union-North United School Building Corporation (the Building Corporation).  George M. Moffett (Moffett) challenges that final determination.    
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The School Corporation serves a district in north central Indiana which encompasses a portion of both St. Joseph and Marshall counties.  It currently operates one elementary school (kindergarten through grade 5) and one junior/senior high school (grades 7 through 12).  The entire sixth grade has been taught in several modular (portable) classrooms located adjacent to the elementary school since 1999.1      
1  The junior/senior high school also employs two modular units for additional classroom space.
  

In 2007, the School Corporation formed a committee, comprised of both members of its staff and the community at large, to assist it in developing a construction plan that would best accommodate its current student body as well as anticipated enrollment growth.  After reviewing numerous options, the School Corporation decided to pursue a plan whereby it would make certain renovations to the elementary school in order to house kindergarten through 4th grade, construct a new intermediate school to house grades 5 through 8, and make renovations to the existing high school which would then be used solely for grades 9 through 12 (the proposed project).  The total cost for the proposed project was estimated at approximately $20,000,000.  
On November 19, 2007, the School Corporation conducted a public hearing on the proposed project.  At the conclusion of the hearing, the School Corporation voted unanimously to proceed with the proposal.  
In December of 2007, opponents of the proposed project initiated a remonstrance process as provided by statute.  The remonstrance process ultimately failed, however, as
only 1,313 petitions against the project were filed, opposed to the 1,781 petitions favoring the project.2  
2  The Court notes that on July 2, 2008, Moffett and several other taxpayers filed a Verified Complaint with the Marshall Circuit Court alleging that the remonstrance process had been flawed and the School Corporation should therefore be enjoined from proceeding with the proposed project.  (See Cert. Admin. R. at 596-97.)  The Marshall Circuit Court dismissed the action on August 14, 2008, when, after declaring it a public lawsuit pursuant to Indiana Code

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