The Price is Wrong! So who is more incompetent, the Calumet Township Assessor or the Department of Redevelopment? The answer: it’s a dead heat. The City of Gary’s Department of Redevelopment, temporarily under the direction of the inexperienced Joe Van Dyk, is currently offering several parcels of property for sale. Two of the parcels that are being sold total 46 acres. These 46 acres are near the Majestic Star Casino, in fact, they were formerly owned by the Casino. This 46 acres of property that the Department of Redevelopment is offering for sale has an assessed value of $2,187,200.00. So how much then would you guess that the Department of Redevelopment would be trying to sell it for? Half price? One-quarter price? Ten cents on the dollar? Five cents on the dollar? Nope! All wrong. They are offering it for sale for 1.5 cents on the dollar—for $32,500.00! So who has got it wrong? They both do. But this highlights just how screwed up the Calumet Township Assessor’s office is. The City of Gary is in effect saying that the Calumet Township Assessor doesn’t know what they are doing—that they haven’t got the foggiest idea of what property is worth. After all, why would they be selling it at such a big discount? (Unless they are trying to slip this deal to one of their pals) This is just another example of many—on steroids in this case—that showcase the abject incompetence of the Calumet Township Assessor. The horribly errant assessment is likely the reason that this particular parcel owes over $578,000.00 in delinquent taxes. But while this property in my opinion is not worth anywhere near the 2.1 million that the Calumet Township Assessor has it valued at, it is sure worth a helluva lot more than the $32,500.00 that they are offering it for sale for. So here is where Joe Van Dyk’s equally incompetent Department of Redevelopment vies for the dunce cap. Now according to Indiana State Statute, his department was required to get two appraisals, and base the minimum bid price to be no less than 90% of the average of the two appraisals. So did they have these appraisals done as required by law? And if so, who did them? And what were their credentials? I don’t think that they had them done at all. And if they did, it was probably by one of their friends’ phony appraisal outfits. This department has used fake appraisal companies many times in the past so based on the completely errant value that they are working from, I can only assume that this is what they again did. But I would certainly like to thank Joe Van Dyk for helping to showcase the absolute incompetence of the Calumet Township Assessor’s office…and his Department of Redevelopment all in one fell swoop. At least he’s good for something! Let’s just hope that the feds are watching this super-shady deal as close as the rest of us. If so, hopefully we’ll get to hear the US Attorney holler: “Come on down!”
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 02:27:27 +0000
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