Have a Blessed Thanksgiving Day

 

I received this email from Steve Folgate and thought you might enjoy it as much as I did.
Debby

Did you know? The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade began in 1924 with 400 employees marching off from Convent Avenue and 145th Street in New York City. During this time the parade was accompanied not with the oversized ballons of our favorite cartoon characters, but with live animals borrowed from the Central Park Zoo -- from camels to elephants.

Wishing you a joyous Thanksgiving filled with friends, family and fun.

      

Steve Folgate
Allstate Insurance Company
Your're in good hands.
Ph: 765-642-2076
Cell: 765-749-8890

November was Election of Officers

Well our November meeting was small but we got a lot of stuff accomplished. We now have our Officers lined up for 2014.

Debby Gilpin - President
Charl Clune - Vice President
Tracey McCaughey - Secretary
Jane Harman - Treasurer

Don't forget the Christmas Party Dec. 12th at Willow Lake Condos. You need to RSVP. Weed a count for the Caterer. We always have a good time at Christmas.

Death of a Member

 
 Larry E. Dudley, 72, passed away Thursday, November 7, 2013 at AMG Specialty Hospital after an extended illness.
He was born March 17, 1941 in Muncie to Karrol Dudley and Kathleen (Branson) Wagner. Larry worked for over 37 years at Vectren Energy. Larry proudly served his country as a Marine veteran. He was a life time member of the VFW and Amvets.
Survivors include his loving wife of 47 years, Jacqueline (Collins) Dudley; three sons, Ray Dudley (wife, Shannon); Larry Gates (wife, Rita) both of Muncie, Terry Gates (wife, Ruby) Oregon; one brother, John Dudley (wife, Patricia) Moore, Oklahoma; 4 grandchildren; and 4 great-grandchildren.
Larry was preceded in death by his parents; and stepfather, Dillon Wagner; and three sisters, Sue, Paula and Sheila.
Private entombment services will be held for the family at Beech Grove Cemetery.
Parson Mortuary is in charge of services.
Military rites will be conducted by the Veterans of Delaware County Honor Guard.
Online condolences may be sent to http://www.parsonmortuary.com.

Christmas Party

Christmas Party

Dec. 12th

RSVP by Dec. 6th

$12.50 a Person or Guest

Willow Lake Condo

Community Building

1501 N. Morrison

Muncie, IN 47304

6:00 - 6:30 Social Hour

Punch and Hordourves

Dinner at 6:30pm

RSVP or Send Checks to:

Heldenbrand, JoAnn & Jack

Classic Rentals & Mgmt

4921 W. Churchill

Muncie, IN  47304

284-4287/ 749-4017

johrealtor@sbcglobal.net

September 19th Meeting Minutes

Call to Order - 7:00pm
16 Member Present and 1 Guest
Introduction of Officers
Introduction of Members
Introduction of the Speaker: John Spafford from the National Tenant Network. John explained to us the necessity of checking credit and back ground on potential Tenants. He showed us how to read a credit report and if the potential tenant is found to be not acceptable NTN will issue a letter back to us that we can send to the Potential Tenant explaing why we are not going to be able to rent to them and at that time they can call or wrote NTN for the reasons why. Another thing is the registry. We can input all of are past and present Tenants and if we do a check on them and one of the other Member of NTN have had this Tenant it will tells us when they lived in that property and how they left. Good information to know.
July's Meeting Minutes are in the Newsletter.
Treasurers Report was given by me because JoAnn was unable to be at the meeting.
Do we want to stay at an every other month meeting or do we want to go back to every month. It was said that if you miss a meeting than you would be missing 3 months but everyone seemed to enjoy the every other month. It has been decided to keep the every other month for another year. We are going to stay in the small room. It suits us. We have had good speakers this year and I expect next year to be the same.
November is election of officers. I know that at this time of the year it is easier to just sit back and let someone else do it but our association as been around for a long time. Including the Apartment Assoc. I would say over 30 years. I have been a member for 13 years. The officers seem to be the same people each year with a suffle every now and then. Maybe this is the year you want to become more involved. Any of the offices are eacy to do. If you do not like talking in front of people then the President position might be a little difficult but just think you know everyone there most of the time. We all talk to each other before the meeting. Think about it. I would be happy to show any one willing to try how to do it.
December is our Christmas Party. The Invitation will be in this newsletter. Please get back to me asap letting me know that you will be coming.
Adjourned the meeting at 8:30pm

NO MORE TAXES

November 6th, 2013
This mornings headlines read:
 NO MORE SCHOOL BUSES. The Referendum Failed. That means they are not going to be raising our taxes. Now it is up to MCS to find another way.

November 7th, 2013
This morning the headlines read:
MIXED MESSAGES. Mayor Tyer disappointed but moving on. MCS is waiting on an answer to their request for a waiver.

November 10th, 2013
This mornings headlines read:
WAITING ON A WAIVER. A Law that was passed in 2012 requiring Indiana school districts to give a three-year notice if they plan to end transportation services, allows districts to apply for a waiver to eliminate the waiting period. Muncie Community Schools applied for a waiver with the Department of Education earlier this year and was told by the IDOE that it would delay action until after the referendum.

Chris Hiatt · Top Commenter · Muncie Central High School  Here's their 4-sentence "backup plan"...(tell me again how much we pay these knuckleheads?)

"The only mandated transportation would be per the federal Title VII-B McKinney-Vento Homelss (Student) Assistance Act as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001"

"The Muncie Community Schools is a one-township (36 square miles) district with nine (9) neighborhood elementary schools evenly located throughout the corporation."

"No elementary child is further than two (2) miles from their closest school."

"Secondary students have free/no fee access to buses of the Muncie Indiana Transit System (MITS)."

DAVID MCINTOSH
Muncie
There is confusion regarding whether the Muncie Community Schools administration has a wavier or has requested a waiver. After a recent call to the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE), here are the facts regarding the waiver:
1. MCS has requested a waiver from the IDOE. This was confirmed by visiting with an official within the IDOE.
2. MCS has submitted a waiver to the IDOE requesting that the three-year notice that schools must provide prior to discontinuing transportation services be waived.
3. According to the IDOE the request is on hold pending the outcome of the vote on the referendum.
4. The IDOE has indicated that a public hearing will occur prior to determining whether to grant or deny the waiver request. This hearing would occur in November. The public will be able to attend this meeting.
5. The IDOE will conduct the public hearing within the MCS district.
6. If the waiver were denied, MCS would be required to provide transportation for the next three years. However, MCS could notify the IDOE that they will utilize the option of notifying patrons that they plan to discontinue bus service after three years.
7. One other school district in Indiana has notified the IDOE that they will utilize the option of notifying patrons that they plan to discontinue bus service after three years.
8. Of the all the school districts in Indiana, MCS will be one of two that has requested a waiver to date.

Larry Riley wrote:
As I write this, polls in yesterday’s Muncie Community Schools referendum remain open. Results are on page 1 and I presume you’ve read the outcome.
Sunday I wrote that the odds were even up, a toss-up between fearful parents getting told they’ll lose bus service for their kids and exasperated taxpayers at wit’s end with local government’s ever-rising costs.
I think the latter may out-vote the former and that will produce the most interest to me.
MCS officials insist that bus service will be terminated with the referendum’s failure to pass, starting with the 2014-15 school year.
Busing became an issue statewide last year after an Indianapolis school district, Franklin Township, went through several years trying to get more money than property tax caps allowed.
Franklin school officials tried not one, but two referendums for more money, both failing at the ballot box.
Franklin’s financial problems were similar to Muncie’s in that a ton of debt had to be paid off.
The problems were way dissimilar in that Franklin saw a fast-rising school enrollment, going from 6,400 students in 2001 up to more than 9,000 by 2011. The district hastily built more schools and took on lots of debt.
This is in direct contrast to Muncie Community Schools, which during the same period of time saw almost a complete reversal of Franklin as far as enrollment went, dropping from perhaps 9,000 down to 6,700. Nevertheless, school board members decided to spend $55 million to upgrade facilities and take on lots of debt in the middle of the shrinkage.
(Yes, one has to wonder if those school board members learned their critical thinking skills in Muncie school classrooms.)
I actually think that until the Franklin standoffs occurred and officials at that school looked into every option, nobody realized that Indiana didn’t require schools to provide transportation to and from school for students.
But Franklin saw an out, and in its final referendum attempt warned parents (and voters) that transportation would end if taxes weren’t raised because, indeed, state law did not require school to provide transportation. (Federal law requires certain students with special needs to be transported, so officials confirmed some busing would continue.)
 When the referendum failed, Franklin sold its buses to a private firm, who took over transportation, and parents were charged a fee if their kids needed bused. Legislators last year put an end to the practice of charging parents for busing.
Some parents sued Franklin schools, but I think the suit was dropped when Franklin schools restructured debt to free up money for transportation (imagine that) for the 2012-13 school year and going forward.
State legislators also weighed in the importance of school transportation by requiring any elimination of the service to be announced three years in advance. Schools were given a possible out by a provision allowing distressed districts to petition for a waiver from the three-year period.
Muncie school officials said they applied for the waiver, and initially led the public to believe they received an OK from the Indiana Department of Education. Later, under more questioning, they clarified that the state had not approved the application after all, but was waiting for the referendum before acting on the petition.
Perhaps this will be moot now, depending on yesterday’s outcome.
Still, I’d like to see the petition that MCS filed with the state, because the school system should, by law, have included a plan with the petition.
Namely, “a written plan that provides for the safe movement of eligible students to and from school.” And “eligible students” is defined in the law as any individual enrolled and attending school and not required by federal or other state law to receive transportation services.
That’s fascinating. So MCS had — in theory, at least — to develop a plan for how kids would safely get to and from school without the school providing bus transportation.
Wonder what the plan says. If the referendum failed, the state’s DOE will conduct a public hearing, somewhere in the district, on the petition to end transportation. If the referendum passes, I guess the petition will be withdrawn and no public hearing held.
I’d still like to know what the plan was.
Larry Riley teaches English at Ball State University. Email him at lriley@bsu.edu.

 Fran Tucker · Top Commenter · Indianapolis, Indiana

Another thing that is upsetting is the constant claim that disabled children won't have busing. Right in the waiver MCS states it must abide by Federal Law. I knew that to be true, but MCS, to my knowledge, never clairifed that and the Yes supporters continued to tell people that, with no regard to parents and citizens getting upset. That's wrong, folks to play on fears....

Another Opinion of the Facts

Great article in Star Press. One that lists facts instead of emotional pleas, the opposite of the pro-higher tax articles: 

I have been following the latest debate about school transportation, which is the subject of the upcoming referendum. The dialog has obviously divided the community— if yard signs are a fair barometer.I may be able to offer a slightly different perspective on the subject. I have a vested interest in this referendum by being a lifelong Muncie resident, Southside graduate and owner of a local manufacturing company. The referendum, if passed, will have a negative impact on my business and increase my personal taxes. I realize we vote our personal interests to a great extent, whether we are citizens, employees, bus drivers, superintendents or financial managers. But I also believe some of us want to do what is best for the students of Muncie even if it hurts. We also want to do what is right for the city. I am an accountant by education and I often rely on statistical analysis to make decisions. I have read articles in the newspaper but didn’t rely on those rather the actual MCS budget and the law. If you are interested in a few facts I offer the following:•   MCS Budget – 2013 over $74 million•   MCS Salaries/Benefits over 60 percent of budget 2013•   MCS transportation costs $4.2 million or 5.6 percent of budget, 2013•   MCS transportation cost per student bussed at $1270/year, 2013•   Franklin Twp. Indianapolis transportation costs per student $420, one-third of MCS levels•   Revenues from referendum $6 million per year for seven years (.3939/$100 of assessed valuation as it appears on the ballot)•   MCS purchased approximately $2 million of iPads this year paid from the Rainy Day Fund, also usable for transportation expenses•   MCS expenditure per student 2012 over $17,000, fourth highest in Indiana among about 300 school districts•   Average MCS administrator salary $97,500•   Average MCS teacher salary $47,700•   Gap between those salaries fourth highest in state•   MCS enrollment has consistently declined for over 25 years to less than 6,000 today.I realize this is a lot to digest but it does paint a picture. I appreciate MCS tax proceeds have declined. Many of us face similar situations and when that happens we set priorities and make hard decisions. Anyone who thinks this discussion is about transportation is naïve. This is about MCS replacing lost funding so they can operate in a manner to which they have become accustomed — even though enrollment has declined. If you were setting priorities I don’t think you would first look at eliminating the 5.6 percent of the budget that transports more than half your students to school. This administration and board literally stepped over the dollars to pick up dimes. The preceding statistics tell you about their priorities and judgment. They reward themselves and friends first and the referendum enables them to continue.With this referendum they are saying they would rather compromise student attendance, education and safety than compromise their lifestyle. Transportation should not be where they start cutting.There are other ways to economize but those have political risk that they shy away from. Consolidation should have been the first subject on the last several superintendents’ agendas but cronyism, nepotism and self indulgence has prevailed instead.Beyond the numbers there are other factors to be considered. Public Law 145-2012, Indiana Code Section 20-27-13-3, says that no school corporation may suspend transportation without providing three years notice. Waivers from this law may be requested but involve public input and investigation by the State Department of Education. MCS is one of two school districts in the State that have applied.  Please recognize that unlike MCS the state of Indiana considers transportation so important they passed this law to be sure schools did not have freedom to make this choice alone.Muncie has a great challenge if it is going to be an attractive city for commerce or families. Increasing taxes drives away business, makes us less attractive and takes $40 million out of our economy over the next seven years – for MCS to spend.I mentioned Franklin Twp. (Indianapolis) transportation costs because it has budget problems too — because of growth not contraction. That administration decided to cease paid transportation and a bus company was found to provide transportation at one-third the cost per student of MCS.Additionally, Franklin Twp. is now in a lawsuit to determine if ceasing transportation violates the constitutional right of a student to a “free and appropriate education.” I would argue that in light of MCS priorities the right to “free and appropriate education” comes far down their list.When I attended MCS I knew of no students who were transported by bus — although there may have been some of the 17,000 students that were. I realize times have changed and busing is a necessity. I do not think that education is very effective in absentia. But that was the place the board and administrators chose as their beachhead because it is a very emotional issue.I am not a character out of a Dickens’ novel who doesn’t care for urchins or students. But I am someone who evaluates the performance of elected and contract personnel at MCS and finds a vacuum of good leadership and honesty. That may have some bearing in the fact that less than half of these referendums have succeeded statewide.Vote yes if you want these people spending more of your tax dollars. I would rather start a fire with the money than entrust it to MCS. Our priorities just aren’t compatible.John Miller is a Muncie resident and president of Allied Enterprises Inc. on Kilgore Avenue.

Vote NO

Do not be FOOLED by lies
and fear mongering!
Muncie Community Schools
are using the threat of
abandoning our children's
bus transportation to
sustain the status quo!!

Just the Facts!
(MCS Referendum Fact Sheet)

MCS 2013 Budget Order

MCS Expenditures per Capita

MCS Referendum Impact Calculator
(If you rent your home or business,
DO NOT take any exemptions)

Find your property value here
(Use the property owner's name or your address
for lookup. Use value found in bolded "Total" row
located in the 2013 column near bottom of page)

MCS Referendum Voting Precincts

BE THERE!!!....

Good Information

Just FYI: To figure the impact take assessed value after subtracting any exemptions. Divide that by 100 and then multiply by .3939 (the rate in the referendum question). 

 

Chris made it simple for me.  For every 100K of non-homesteaded property it will be $393 ($400 approximately).  So every business or real estate portfolio of $1 million will incur almost $4,000 more a year.  On top of all the Property Tax already billed.  Several of your members have portfolios that size and that's another motive for Delaware Co to keep climbing assessments.

 

Let me know what you suggest.

 

Victoria

Need Help filing a Property Tax Appeal?

Two dates - Two times!!

This Wednesday @ 6:00 pm!!

This Saturday @ 8:00 am!!

 Property Tax Appeasl Help Day FREE!!!

At the Kennedy Branch Library, McGalliard Road, Muncie.

The new General Reassessment Assessed Values are done and have been mailed!

(If you own property and haven't seen yours, you better call the County Assessor's office @ (765) 747-7715 and research your new assessment IMMEDIATELY!)

The deadline to appeal your Property Tax Assessment is October 31, 2013!!

Many have seen increases of over 50% in their assessed values!!

The law now provides for the Assessor to bear the burden of proof on any assessment that has increased more than 5%, but YOU MUST FILE AN APPEAL for that review to occur!

The Citizens of Delaware County for Good Government is hosting our Fifth Annual “Property Tax Appeal Help Day” on both Wednesday October 23, 2013 and Saturday October 26, 2013 at the Kennedy Library on McGalliard Road.  There is no cost for this service, however last year we PACKED THE HOUSE with well over nearly 200 taxpayers in attendence, so be sure and be on time and prepared!

The purpose of the Property Tax Appeal Help Day is to help property owners who believe that their assessed values are too high.   We will provide a packet with pointers on how to complete your property tax assessment appeal forms, but we do not guarantee that you will win your appeal.    

The following “Tax Appeal Primer” contains preliminary information to help you file your property tax appeal. 

·         You snooze, you lose:  Property owners have until October 31, 2013 to appeal assessed values on their properties.  If you fail to appeal by the deadline, you will lose your right to appeal.  You can provide additional information for your appeal after it is filed, but you must file before the deadline.

·         No news isn’t always good news:  We were advised that the Form 11, which shows changes in assessed values, is being sent to all property owners this year.  If you have not received a Form 11 for your property you should check with the Assessor’s Office to determine if your assessed values have changed.  

·         Appeal with Zeal:  Be advised that you may need to appeal your assessment this year, even if you appealed and won last year. We are aware of properties with assessed values that were reduced last year per successful appeals that reverted back to pre-appeal levels this year.  The good news is that State Senator Doug Eckerty is working with Representative Bill Davis on legislation to close the loophole that allows County Assessors to “trend” your assessed value from the pre-appeal amount versus the adjusted amount that resulted from a successful appeal.   So if you win your appeal, future assessed values should be trended from adjusted assessed value that is a result of your appeal. 

·         Home sweet homestead: A homestead exemption can save homeowners money on their property taxes.  House Enrolled Act ("HEA") 1344-2009, required the homestead exemption form be mailed with all property tax statements through 2012 though it must only be completed once prior to Jan. 1, 2013.  We recommend that you re-file your homestead exemption this year to make sure that it gets done. 

·         Don’t leave home without it (A Property Record Card that is):  Be sure to pick up a current Property Record Card from the Assessor’s office so that you can identify errors on your assessment.  Call the Assessor’s Office at 747-7710 for help.  They can email your Property Record Card to you.

·         A picture is worth a thousand words:  Provide photographs of any damages or other issues that detract from the value of the property. Take photographs of the inside and outside of the property as needed.

·         Condition and Grade matter:  These ratings affect your assessed values. The Department of Local Government Finance has provided guidelines that can be used to validate the condition and grade of your property. 

·         Two copies are better than one: Make two copies of your appeal and all photographs and supporting documentation and have them date stamped when you turn in your appeal.  Make sure you keep a complete copy of all documentation for your records

Be sure to mark your calendars for either Wednesday, October 23rd or Saturday, October 26th at the Kennedy Library on McGalliard Road.

We hope to see you there!

Larry Riley Star Press 10/6/2013

In the last week, I’ve run into two people who have told me similar stories about discussions they’ve had with friends of theirs whom they know to be intelligent. They and their friends were talking about the upcoming referendum over raising Muncie Community Schools taxes. On Nov. 5, voters in Center Township will be eligible to cast a ballot either opposing or supporting increasing property taxes by 39.39 cents per $100 of assessed value of the property they own. Each person said their friends, after talking over the issue, made a statement similar to this: “Well, if the referendum passes, it won’t matter to me because our property tax already is at the property tax cap.” Way wrong response. We wouldn’t be having a referendum unless a pro-hike outcome was going to take local property taxes in Center Township the tax caps, and levy additional taxes. If you’re at the property tax cap, which 65.5 percent of homesteaded property owners in Center Township are (homesteaded property are homes in which the homeowner lives in the home), you’ll keep paying the maximum allowed by the caps and pay additional taxes WHAT ABOUT THE “AVERAGE” increase Muncie Community Schools officials keep talking about? School folks are fond of saying the “average” home in the school district is assessed at $75,000 and the owners will pay an additional $65 annually in taxes with rate hike approval. The mean assessed value of a homesteaded property in Center Township is actually $69,135, but the net assessed value on which property taxes are paid, thanks to a really generous homestead exemption, drops to $20,200. On this NAV, the additional taxes MCS wants would be $80 per year. More than one-third of all properties by parcel in the township are homesteaded. But what about the “average” non-homesteaded property, where people rent the homes they live in? Another 26 percent of property parcels in the township are in this category. The “average” property in this category is assessed at $57,102, and because those property owners get far fewer exemptions, the NAV average is $56,965. The annual increase on these property owners would be $224. If the owners don’t absorb any of the increase, average rent would increase by that much, about $20 a month. If owners are willing, say, to split the difference, rents would go up $112 per year. The highest property tax-paying category is commercial/industrial property, and the “average” assessment for these owners is $108,000. This is a little deceiving, though, because the range is really large: from a few hundred dollars up to the Muncie Mall’s $22 million value. How about a specific example? Lowe’s Home Center off Clara Lane on Muncie’s northwest side, is almost exactly 1 percent of the total commercial/industrial property assessment total. The company enjoyed a terrific second quarter of the year, with sales up 10.3 percent over the second quarter of 2012. If the referendum passes, Lowe’s will pay $33,721 in additional taxes. Say the home center has a 10 percent margin (could be optimistic). To pay the additional taxes will require $337,000 in additional sales. Given how well the year’s going, people might think, good, they can easily afford more taxes. Yet if the national chain wants to continue profit levels it currently runs, the layoffs of three part-time workers may be a better option than trying to sell one-third of a million more dollars worth of goods. Center Township has more than 8,000 parcels of commercial/industrial properties, but 93 percent of the assessed value is in 1,400 parcels, and all those are at the property tax cap maximum. WHO’S BEHIND THE “Vote Yes” and “Vote No” signs? That’s just what the Delaware County Election Board wants to know, though particularly about the former. The latter, unlike the former, has no single entity which will be advantaged by referendum defeat. The one entity with a big stake came up at last week’s Election Board meeting. Semi-retired local real estate agent and former Buick car dealership owner Brad Razor attended the meeting to inquire about the “Vote Yes” signs popping up around town, including on Muncie school properties. The rumor is that M&M bus company is doing it,” Razor told the board, “but I can’t imagine they’d be doing it without the blessing of the school system.” The MCS board has decided that if voters don’t approve increasing school taxes, they will eliminate bus transportation for students, and the system pays M&M to operate the bus service. Razor, a former Republican County Council member who has penned several letters to the editor opposing the referendum, said he could find no Political Action Committee filing of any group behind the effort, either. Anyone spending more than $100 to promote an election question would trigger a need to do so under existing law. Under a newer law that took effect last year, a vendor who contracts with a school corporation may not spend any money to promote the outcome. The Election Board agreed to send Muncie Community Schools officials, including the board president, a letter asking if they know who’s behind the signage, and given time constraints, members want an answer this week. Larry Riley teaches English at Ball State University. Email him at:lriley@bsu.edu

More information about VOTE NO!

Please help defeat the MCS Referendum in November!

Signs are now available for those in the Muncie Community Schools district that want to see this abomination stopped!

Most importantly, be sure to VOTE! (A list of the Voting Centers is attached)

By now, most should be aware that both the Muncie Community School Administration and now apparently the League of Women Voters are promoting the Muncie Community School Referendum to raise the MCS Bus Fund levy by 267% with fallacious fear mongering.

The voters need to be informed with the facts.

MCS currently has a current Bus levy that produces 33% more revenue as what they currently pay for their bus transportation. MCS receives $3.7 million per year in local property taxes for the transportation fund and pays about $2.5 million per year for bus transportation. A $1.2 million surplus. They now want to raise that tax revenue to over $9.5 million per year under the threat of the safety and welfare of your children......that is simply despicable.

The "minimal tax amounts" to the taxpayers that the Muncie Community Schools are exhalting in support of their efforts to add this additional tax will ONLY apply to RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY OWNERS and utilizing all available deductions which, in actuality represents only a very small number of the Muncie Community School households.

Both the MCS Administration and the League of Women Voters are trying to augment their postures and arguments in support of the tax increase on the basis that we have an extremely high poverty rate in the MCS district and that nearly 75% of the children attending MCS are on free or reduced lunches. It's EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to recognize that the majority of those poverty-stricken and low-income families DO NOT OWN the homes that they reside in and will, in fact, be most negatively impacted by the tax increase! The taxes on the homes that they occupy and pay rent on will increase between $200 and $400 annually ($1,400.00 to $2,800.00 over the course of the tax period) and most assuredly that additional cost will be passed on to them by way of increased rents. So, if you're a residential homeowner protected by those precious cost-saving deductions and are inclined to vote in favor of the Referendum because the cost to you is minimal, then just be reminded that you do so at the expense of the most vulnerable in our community!

What Muncie Community Schools is really doing with this additional tax referendum is making one last-ditch effort to pick the pockets of the local taxpayers in lieu of making the tougher decisions regarding consolidations and cost cutting that they should have done years ago. They are blaming the property tax caps for their problems, yet the tax caps have been implements for over 4 years! If the Muncie Community Schools can't come to terms with their bloated budget after 4 years of tax caps, then they certainly shouldn't be rewarded with additional tax revenues. There's good reason why the Muncie Community Schools don't want to make any tough decisions regarding school closings and consolidations BEFORE the election. They want YOU to bail them out!

Over the course of the years, and directly in the face of over 12,000 good paying jobs leaving our community and the declining enrollment of their school corporation to the extent that it is only about 1/3 of what it was at its peak, MCS has continued to pour nearly $100 million in total costs associated with sustaining the status quo. Now the chickens have come home to roost and it's not the taxpayers fault, nor the taxpayer’s responsibility to bail them out.

Voters beware and don't let anybody fool you, if this Referendum fails as it rightfully should, and the Muncie Community Schools moves forward with suspending bus transportation for our children, it's not because the money isn't there. It's because they feel that there are more important things like Administrator's pay and benefits as well as keeping half-filled schools open rather than bus your children to and from their school. That decision, if it occurs, would be reprehensible.

Tax Sale

I was able to go to the training seminar that was done at the City Hall Building. We were told it was being filmed and is now showing on channel 60. If you have any interest in buying a tax sale property now or in the future, here is a chance to learn at the time and before the sale. I will be at the sale also. Go with me.

In today's paper there was an article from Larry Riley on his view of the tax sale and the seminar.

Larry Riley: Navigating tax sales takes time, expertise

 A of couple times over the last few weeks a special 10-page supplement has been included in The Star Press, most recently last Wednesday: the 2013 Delaware County tax sale notice, featuring 1,930 properties.

Owners of these properties are behind in their property taxes by at least three payments (taxes are due twice a year, May and November) and at that point are subject to getting auctioned off in the tax sale.
Owners can pay up and remove the property from the sale anytime up to, I think, the day before the Oct. 1 sale, and people pour into the county Treasurer’s office doing so continually.

Owners can pay up and remove the property from the sale anytime up to, I think, the day before the Oct. 1 sale, and people pour into the county Treasurer’s office doing so continually.

By late last week, the number of properties still scheduled for the block were down to 1,689.
(Owners have to pay both back taxes and a late penalty of 10 percent, though some people who scam the system know they need only pay the oldest of the three payments in arrears. They still owe a bundle, but their property gets pulled from sale.)
I’m sure state law specifies the format of the legal publication — the aforementioned 10-page insert — but the notice is almost worthless to anyone interested in what’s for sale.
Each property starts with its obscure parcel identification, a series of 9 digits followed by another series of 18 digits, then the amount of arrearage, owners’ names, and then property address.
A reader would have to know how the parcel ID system arranges addresses in the county, find that general area in the 10 pages, and then plod through listing after listing if they wanted to see whether a particular property was in the sale.
Regardless, I’m happy the county shells out some of the fewer and fewer dollars it has to pay for the insert.
Yet you do have to research much more if you’re interested in actually bidding on properties, and a lot of businesses, both locally and nationwide, do so. Buying tax sale properties has become a cottage industry, and more, these days.
In part, this is because a buyer is not really purchasing the property, but buys a certificate giving them the right to take title after a one-year period of time in which the original owner can redeem the property by paying the original taxes and penalties.
 Along with the redemption, however, comes an additional 10 percent interest fee for the first few months that lapse followed by a 15 percent fee for remaining months, on the amount the successful buyer bid.
For example, one of the best properties still scheduled in the Oct. 1 sale from the standpoint of value minus tax owed is the Temple Baptist Church, on South Madison at 29th Street.
The church owes $2,276, an amount that rises to $2,888 on auction day, and this will be the minimum bid to buy the property. The land and 14,000-square-foot building are assessed at $466,000.
One has to believe the congregation will quickly redeem the property were it sold at auction, and thus if the winning bid were, say, $50,000, whoever bought the property would be owed $5,000 immediately. Nice ROI.
This is also an example of a property highly likely to be removed from the sale in the next few weeks. If you’re wondering why a religious property would be owing taxes, the answer is that stormwater fees, which everybody pays, are collected on tax bills and make properties subject to sale if unpaid.
The Tyler administration is trying to expand the fraternity of local people who bid in the tax sale to include prospective homeowners: people willing to invest, take the property, fix the place up and move in.
Scores of distressed properties are included in every tax sale, perhaps even the majority of one-family houses for sale.
If one knows what they’re doing, though, you can get a good deal and wind up owning valuable property for much less than what you’d pay going through the normal process of home buying.
Last week, Muncie’s Community Development office offered a 90-minute workshop attended by about 50 people on the rudiments of bidding on property and taking certificates to deed.
One piece of misinformation got passed on by the SRI Inc. representative who made the presentation (SRI is a private business that handles the county’s tax sales), namely that purchasers of tax sale property have no right to trespass on the property during the one-year redemption period.
 State law changed in 2011. While no one can enter a building, law now does allow a non-owner of a property that’s vacant or abandoned to “secure” the property, mow the grounds, remove trash and debris, and remove graffiti, and they’re immune from prosecution or civil lawsuit.
Perhaps this can be clarified before the auction.
The process remains daunting. Of the 1,689 parcels still scheduled for sale late last week, 235 are under water vis-à-vis taxes. That is, those properties owe more taxes than the property is assessed.
In some cases, as the back taxes mounted up, the house on the property became so dilapidated the city tore the place down.
For example, the Indianapolis owner of 306 E. Gilbert St., a neighborhood near downtown, owes $39,000 on a lot worth $5,400.
In other cases, modest-sized houses have accrued arrearages beyond their worth: a four-bedroom house at 2400 S. Walnut St., assessed at $17,300 owes $20,000 in taxes.
Bargains can await, but caveat emptor.
Larry Riley teaches English at Ball State University. Email him at at lriley@bsu.edu.

National Tenant Network

Here is more information I received today from NTN's Newletter. Don't forget that John will be at our meeting on the 19th of this month. He will be explaining the program and answering any and all of your questions. Plan on being there and bring a friend that is also a landlord.

FAIR HOUSING LAWS Fair housing laws are in place to prevent discrimination in housing transactions, including sale, rental or financing of property. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability. Should you violate these laws as a landlord, whether intentionally or accidently, you may be sued in Federal Court and ordered to pay actual and punitive damages, as well as attorney's fees and costs. NTN solves this problem for our subscribers with NTN DecisionPoint. For consistent, documented tenant selection, this is the report that will simplify your leasing process.

READ MORE ABOUT NTN DECISIONPOINT  NTN DecisionPoint reviews an applicant's background and produces an overall score, much like a credit score, along with a corresponding rental recommendation - both of which are based on a thorough and objective analysis of both the applicant's credit record and his or her history of eviction(s) and/or lease violation(s). NTN DecisionPoint also takes into account longevity of employment and longevity of residence, thereby ensuring a higher probability of overall resident retention. In addition, the NTN DecisionPoint report is accompanied by a comprehensive NTN tenant-performance profile, a detailed eviction and lease violation history, screening history, landlord identification and terrorist search. To see a sample NTN DecisionPoint report, CLICK HERE.

STRONG RENTAL MARKET CONTINUES     There are enough impediments to homeownership, experts argue, to keep the rental market strong for the immediate future, including a still-recovering jobs market, increasingly stringent mortgage requirements, and a sizable swath of the home-buyer base that is still reeling from the effects of the housing market downturn, with underwater or delinquent mortgages. Plus, the nation's two largest generational groups-the baby boomers, who are at or near retirement age, and the Millennials, most of whom are in the very early stages of their career, are ripe for long-term rentals.

Something Fun for Fall

Wow this could work!

With Halloween coming up, save this to your computer so you can remember to do this!

After you scoop out and carve your pumpkin, dip it in a large container of bleach and water (use a 1 tsp:1 gal mix). The bleach will kill bacteria and help your pumpkin stay fresh longer. Once completely dry, (drain upside down), add 2 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to a quart of water. Brush this solution onto your pumpkin to keep it looking fresh for weeks.”

University Parking

MUNCIE — Looking for a place to park in a neighborhood near the Ball State University campus? Then you might want to read the signs and keep in mind whether you’re in the red or yellow zone, because Mike Maddy will be doing that as well.
Maddy, the city code enforcement officer whose regular patrols include near-campus areas, is tasked with enforcing the zoned parking implemented by the city in 2005 for designated campus-area neighborhoods.
The plan, still in effect, restricts two-hour on-street parking on most residential streets in specified areas to just one side of the street, and provides each house with just one on-street parking sticker color coded for that zone. The sticker allows that car to park on either side of the street — including the two-hour parking side — in that zone; otherwise residents are expected to use off-street parking.
Maddy cuts students some slack during move-in each year and the first few weeks of classes, figuring they’re still learning. By now, however, he’s stepping up enforcement, leaving yellow tickets on the windshields of vehicles parked on the wrong side of the street or in a yard or without a parking sticker in evidence.
Having worked in code enforcement for 36 years, Maddy’s seen many neighborhoods around Ball State shift from single-family homes to student rentals. Therein used to lie the root of the problem of bumper-to-bumper on-street parking, he noted; “If you’re going to rent a house to five or six kids, don’t tell them to park on the street.”
Under the current system, each address is provided with an on-street parking sticker for one car, and the expectation is that property owners will provide off-street parking for the others.
Father-son landlords Eldon Buck and Steve Buck, each of whom owns homes-turned-student-rentals in the campus area, are all for the parking limitations; in fact, they and other members of the University Area Landlord Association encouraged and worked with city officials to get parking restrictions in the area, they said. “This eliminates a lot of the students (who are living in dorms) coming out there (to the neighborhood streets) and leaving their cars there for days,” said Eldon Buck, owner of Buck Rentals.
The alleys in the neighborhoods are conducive to adding off-street parking, which in turn makes the neighborhoods nicer, “not stuffed with cars on both sides of the road,” said Steve Buck of Campus Enterprises.
The street department has given out 150 of the red, green, yellow or blue zone parking stickers so far this year, according to Becky Clark in the department’s office. (Rental property owners and maintenance workers get purple tags that allow them to park along the streets.)

'Your time's up'

Driving around campus-area neighborhoods in his code enforcement SUV (complete with right-side steering wheel and a cup-holder full of pens for writing tickets) on a recent weekday, Maddy was quick to point out the problematic parking jobs along sometimes narrow residential streets: one vehicle parked facing east on the westbound side of the street, another without a sticker parked right next to the sign warning “Yellow permit parking only” and one getting double the tickets, one each for both of those offenses.
For the first few weeks of school, Maddy hadn’t been going after violators staying too long in the two-hour spots, but he said last week that grace period was about to end, as well. (Two-hour parking limits are effective 6 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays.)
Reactions to traffic tickets vary, from people who don’t take a parking ticket seriously enough to pay it until a notice is sent to the car’s owner — often Mom and Dad for college students — to people who swear at or threaten him or try to ditch the ticket and run when they notice him writing them up. Maddy, who served as a reserve office for the city police years ago, said he’s heard more excuses and taken more abuse over $15 or $20 parking tickets than he used to over speeding tickets.
Muncie and Ball State police are good about responding to back up code enforcement when things get heated, he added. Some parents call the street department to complain after finding out about their children’s parking tickets, but Maddy’s response is, “It’s not my job to babysit these people and make sure their kids know what the rules are.”Signs designating two-hour or color coded zoned parking are liberally placed around their relevant neighborhoods, but Maddy said people will argue they didn’t think the signs six feet away apply to where they parked.
A standard excuse is that “I’ve done it before and I never got caught,” Maddy said, to which his response is, “Well, your time’s up ... This is your day; you won the lottery.”
When the color-coded zoned parking first went into effect, properties were provided with hang-tags for cars, but those tended to be passed around, so the street department now provides landlords with stickers instead. People sometimes will try to get around use of the stickers for just one car as well, taping them to an inside window or other temporary placement, but Maddy said having the sticker anywhere but on the left rear bumper, where it can be easily seen as he patrols the streets, is just courting a ticket under your windshield wiper.
The area around Ball State certainly isn’t the only part of the city with parking issues, nor are parking limitation issues exclusive to Muncie, Maddy said. “All cities got parking problems,” he said.

Plans for Neely

Eventually, the area covered by the zoned/two-hour parking restrictions will actually lose some of its on-street parking, thanks to plans to improve Neely Avenue between the edge of campus and Wheeling Avenue.
That stretch of Neely — which now has two-hour parking on both sides rather than a side dedicated to zoned parking — is slated to get new sidewalks, a bike lane and a center median, which will result in the loss of on-street parking along both sides.
Though the project is being done by the city, it is designed to match the kind of streetscaping that has been done on the campus in recent years, including the stretch of Neely just to the west, between New York and McKinley avenues, according to Muncie Street Department Superintendent Duke Campbell. “We want it to look just like Neely going into Ball State,” he said. The loss of parking was a consideration when looking at the design, but the availability of off-street parking for residents and other options for other drivers answered that concern, Campbell said.Ball State officials are supportive of the plans for Neely, looking upon the similar design as a way to provide “a corridor of connectivity” between the campus and Minnetrista, downtown Muncie and bike trails, said James Lowe, BSU associate vice president of facilities planning.
The Bucks, both of whom own rentals along Neely, are also all for it, despite the loss of the on-street parking. “It will improve the whole neighborhood,” Eldon Buck said. Since landlords have to provide off-street parking for tenants there anyway, the loss of those parking spots will be more than offset by having a nicer entrance to the campus, he added.
Steve Buck said he’d like the city to consider similar improvements for other residential streets in the area as well.
The $1.4 million Neely project includes a 20-percent local match, Campbell said; improvements to stormwater drainage will add another $300,000, but Campbell hopes to work with the Muncie Sanitary District to cut that cost by hopefully tying the Neely work in with the current sewer-separation project along Wheeling.
Campbell expects to be ready to take bids for the work on Neely in July 2014, with construction extending into 2015.

Tax Sale Workshop

In Brad King's Article in Sunday's paper he is talking about Homesteading but with in his article he is having a Tax Sale Workshop Sept. 3, 6 - 7:30pm at the City Hall Auditorium. If you have been wanting to learn more about tax sales this might just be the place to be. I am interested so I have it on my schedule.

Debby

Income Taxes – How Real Estate Can Save You Money

People frequently purchase investment real estate with the belief that they will save some money on their income taxes as a result of their property ownership. And this could be true, but in many cases real estate provides an owner with virtually no tax savings at all. In this article we’ll talk about rental properties and how you can figure out, with your tax advisor, if your real estate ownership will assist you to reduce your annual tax bill.

1040 Form
All annual personal income tax reporting ends with an individual filling out their two page IRS 1040 main tax form. In order to reduce one’s taxes as much as is legally allowed, taxpayers use deductions and losses to reduce their starting 1040 Form “Gross Income” to the lowest “Taxable Income” possible near the bottom of the 1040 form. One of those deductions or “losses” that helps reduce or shield your taxable income is related to real estate rental property operations that are calculated on the schedule E form and flow to your 1040 Form line 17.
Schedule E Mechanics
A rental property owner will fill out their Schedule E with all the property’s income and expense items for the year. The top number is the rental income, then they subtract expenses like maintenance, property taxes, insurance, mortgage interest, and depreciation. If the net number is a loss – which is common for the first bunch of years after a property is acquired – that loss generally goes onto the 1040 Form line 17 and is a reduction of one’s personal income.  That reduction flows through their entire 1040 form to reduce their taxable income and hence reduces the amount of taxes one would pay Uncle Sam.
And that’s how real estate saves you money on taxes; by allowing you to take a rental property deduction to reduce your gross income by the amount of any losses you incur on your real estate ownership. If you have a ($10,000) loss, you can shield $10,000 worth of your income from taxation which could save you $2,500 to $4,500 that year!
Limitations
Hold on though, guess what, there are some restrictions that the IRS enacted years ago to limit wealthy people from taking too much of an advantage of these tax saving measures.
These restrictions are generally called passive activity loss (PAL) limitations and most investors’ rental property operations are “passive activities” under the IRS code. The first PAL limitation restricts the maximum allowed net PAL that an individual can use to ($25,000) per year. So if one has a loss of ($35,000), they can use ($25,000) but have to carry the extra ($10,000) forward, probably for years, until it can be used down the road within the annual ($25,000) limit. Additionally, the ability to use any losses at all phases out as an investor’s Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) goes from $100,000 to $150,000 – at which point they can’t use the losses at all in the current year and would need to carry them over, possibly for decades, until their income drops below those levels.
So if you have huge losses, and/or your AGI is over $150,000 you’re probably out of luck on using significant losses to shield your income from taxation – discuss with your tax professional.
One last quirk in this law is that if the property owner is a real estate professional, check the tax code for qualifications, the ($25,000) PAL limitation might not apply. Now you might think that real estate professionals would be savvy enough investors to buy properties that don’t have huge tax losses, but I see investors do the darnedest things all the time! For yourself, try to buy good cash flow positive properties first, and then you won’t come up upon those PAL limits because your losses should be relatively small.
To summarize, if you are going to buy rental properties, and you are counting on the tax benefits to help your investment returns, make sure to get with your tax advisor beforehand to look at your entire tax picture. This will hopefully ensure you will actually earn some tax savings due to your real estate ownership; because, as with everything in real estate, tax savings are not as simple as just buying and assuming everything will work out to your favor!
 Posted: 21 Aug 2013 10:57 AM PDT
Leonard Baron is America’s Real Estate Professor – his unbiased, neutral and inexpensive “Real Estate Ownership, Investment and Due Diligence 101” textbook teaches real estate buyers how to make smart and safe purchase decisions. He is a San Diego State University Lecturer, blogs at Zillow.com, and loves kicking the tires of a good piece of dirt! More at ProfessorBaron.com.