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The Huntington Township assessor sued a number of Huntington County officials - and some state agencies - Monday, contesting recent legislation that will phase out township assessors as unconstitutional.
And amid her recitation of portions of the Indiana Constitution and the recently enacted House Bill 1001, Joan Stoffel's lawsuit outlines the jarring transfer of her office to the Huntington County assessor's last month.
Signed by Gov. Mitch Daniels in March, House Bill 1001 cut property taxes statewide by an average of 30 percent this year. One of the provisions of the law the transfer of the duties of the 966 township assessors in townships with less than 15,000 parcels to the county assessors. In the remaining 43 townships of more than 15,000 parcels, voters will decide in November whether to transfer the township assessor's duties to the county.
In early May, Attorney General Steve Carter issued a legal opinion, saying elected township assessors will continue to get their full salaries this year even though the property assessment jobs will shift to the counties' assessors in July.
Stoffel's lawsuit, filed Monday in Huntington Circuit Court, names the state, the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, Huntington County, the Huntington County commissioners and County Council members and Huntington County Assessor Terri Boone.
According to Stoffel's lawsuit, Boone began meeting in April with Huntington County officials to discuss the transfer of Stoffel's office into her own.
Boone said she would come up with a plan for the transition by May 9, and gave Stoffel and her deputies until May 30 to apply for employment with the county assessor's office, according to court documents.
Stoffel said she didn't hear anything from Boone by May 16, and she and some of her staff went to a previously scheduled weeklong training seminar. While Stoffel was gone, Boone told the remainder of Stoffel's staff to help move the offices to the county assessor's office - including phones, computers, files and desks, according to court documents.
When Stoffel talked to Boone on May 20, she said she told Boone she wanted to work for the county assessor's office. Boone said she didn't have room for Stoffel and abruptly hung up the phone, according to court documents.
Boone had the locks changed on Stoffel's office and has denied Stoffel access to some of her files and records, according to court documents.
In a telephone interview, Boone said she transferred the phone lines on the day she did because it was the only day the technicians were available and stressed she went through the proper channels of the county commissioners, council members and county attorney.
When asked why she changed the locks on the township assessor's office door, Boone declined to comment further.
Longtime Huntington County Commissioner Richard Brubaker declined to comment because he had yet to see a copy of the lawsuit.
Having served as the Huntington Township assessor since 1995, Stoffel makes $39,234 this year and was re-elected for a four-year term that will end Dec. 31, 2010, according to court documents.
Stoffel's attorney, Indianapolis-based John Price, said he and Stoffel believe the township assessors should be allowed to finish out their terms, until Dec. 31, 2010, at full salary.
And he worries other township assessors will be kept from employment at the county assessors' offices, particularly if the two are from different political parties.
In her lawsuit, Stoffel is asking a judge to rule state legislators violated the state's Constitution when they passed House Bill 1001, and, among other requests, find the county-level officials interfered with Stoffel's contract between her and her constituency as an elected official, according to court documents.
Stoffel also wants a judge to grant class-action status to the case because she said she is acting on behalf of the state's township assessors, some of whom have already been told they have no job, or that they will not be paid any salary or other compensation for the rest of 2008, according to court documents.
A class certification would be welcome, said Becky Williams, Franklin Township assessor in Marion County and president of the Indiana Assessors Association.
She said she hears a lot of horror stories from township assessors around the state about what is going on during the transition before the July 1 date, such as township assessors being offered only $1 in salary a year for the remainder of their terms.
“There doesn't seem to be a lot of rhyme or reason to what is going on,” Williams said.
rgreen@jg.net
