Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1920-01-06
LAW SAYS YOU
CAN PAY TAXES,
BUT YOU CAN'T
And Maybe You'll Pay Penalty
as a Delinquent, Though
Not Your Fault.
OFFICIALS GRAB FEES

Taxpayers of Marion county can not
pay their taxes
Ralph Lemcke, who became county
treasurer Jan. 1, finds himself in the
unique position Of having full authority
to pay out county funds, but utter IN
ability to accept payment of taxes other
than those which have heretofore be-
come delinquent.
And that word delinquent" is right
now the most important adjective that
applies to the taxpayers of the county,
for they have no assurance that their
taxes will not go delinquent. through
no fault of their own, and no assurances
that they will not be compelled to pay
penalties for delinquencies regardless Of
their willingness, right now, to pay
their taxes.
A resident of indianapolis who has
considerable personal property and r
disposition to get away from the rigors
Of Indiana climate in the winter, at
tempted to pay his taxes before leaving
for Florida. where he expected to re
main until next June. He called at the
treasurers office and offered to pay. The
employees Of the treasurers office ex-
pressed their regret. They did not know
how much money to take from him They
regretted that they were under injunc-
tion not to accept his taxes.
MUST WAIT UNTIL
THE COURT ACTS.
when can I pay 'em?" asked the
taxpayer.
1.-The Lord knows" responded the clerk.
you can not pay EN- until the court de-
cides how much we can collect and you
may not be able TO pay EN- for weeks
after that, for in event the court decides
against the state tax board. we are going
to have to wait until the auditor changes
the duplicates again"
But all that may not be done until
the time for taXPayng expires objected
the taxpayer, "and then I suppose you'll
BE- trying to collect the delinquent penal
ties, too"
~ don't know whatn be done about
delinquents Nobody knows when the
courts are going TO get through with the
/ mess" responded the tax clerk.
And a very decided air Of ~ should
worry" settled down over the spacious
office Of the county treasurer
AND THOSE
( MANY FEES,
Ralph Lemcbe should worry about de-
linquents. Throughout the years that
| have rassed. when Ed Sourbier was
/ treasurer and long before that the collec.
tion of delinquent taxes has been a de-
I lichtful source Of additional revenue for
| the county treasurer. There are fees
and other fees connected with 1t and the
sum total of the penalties that have
been collected from delinquentS in the
past were generally measured by the
amount of money the delinquent was
willing to hand over without a fuss.
There was Zee for a notice fee for a
levy. a fee for another notice and in
cases where II was possible to collect It
A.. 4 lr1r errhn
To the habitat of the delinquent and spit
tobacco Juice over the left front wheel,
while his associate bulldozers ragged the
women OF the household into paying the
deliuouency plus the fees they thought
the delinqueut would pay.
Jesse Eschbach, chief OF the state board
Of accounts. once investigated the law
and set forth a schedule Of fees that
followed delinquencies. It was a good
schedule ana appeared to be arranged
IN accordance with the statutes made
and provided, but It lacked one thing.
II did not carry with II death penalty
for extortion Of any other fees and
nothing short Of such a penalty would
suffice to break up the custom Of the
1 delinquent tax collectors OF collecting all
that the traffic will bear.
WHAT TAX BOARD
ORDER HAS DONE.
Under the state law, now and hereto
fore, taxes are payable after Jan. l. But
Won can not pay them in Marion county.
The reason for this Is that the state
hoard issued an order Increasing the as
sessments fixed by the assessors as the
"trge cash value" 80 per cent on i'm
provements, 20 per cent on real estate
and 80 per cent on personal property.
Certain tax payers who had not yet
been inoculated with the peculiar kind
OF virus that makes people believe any
thing the Goodrich Hays" political ma
chine does is absolutely all right, decided
that these horizontal increases were not
proper. They asserted that when their
holdings had been assessed at their true
cash value it was not legal to boost that
true cash value 90 80 or so per cent,
and they went into court, where they es-
tablshed their assertions.
There Issued an injunction against
the treasurer Of the county forbidding
him TO collect the excessive taxes. And
the treasurer does not know what taxes
he should collect, so he has agreed to
collect none at all, pending the determi-
nation of the appealed case, which is now
decorating the calendar of the appellate
court of Indiana and may, in the dim
and distant future, be decided in favor
Of the taxpayers or the Goodrich ap-
pointed tax board.
DELINQUENCIES GALORE
LOOM AS POSSIBILITY.
If this decision is forthcoming before
the first Monday in May the taxpayers Of
Marion county may be able to pay their
taxes before delinquent penalties are as
sessed against them. If 1t Is not forth
coming in time to allow for the proper
Continued on Page EIeven.)