O’Connor
One of Bartholomew County’s top elected fiscal officials lost multiple appeals of property tax assessments on property that she owns or has an ownership interest in.
County Auditor Pia O’Connor is listed as at least part owner on three of five O’Connor family tax assessment appeals that were denied Tuesday by the Bartholomew County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA).
O’Connor contested assessments for property taxes as of Jan. 1, 2022, on a residence she owns at 847 Carya Lane in Tipton Lakes, as well as two large farm properties in which she is listed as an owner on property tax records.
Those are:
- A 261.9-acre farm and homestead property at 975 Beatty Lane, immediately adjacent to the southwest Columbus city limits. County property tax records show the total assessed value of that property rose from $454,800 in 2021 to $575,400 in 2022. Accordingly, the annual tax bill increased from about $7,736 to $9,908.
- A 107.71-acre farm and homestead property at 6421 E. County Road 50N, just east of Columbus city limits. The assessment on that property jumped from $565,000 in 2021 to $628,000 in 2022. That increase resulted in an annual tax bill that climbed from about $8,510 to just shy of $9,000.
O’Connor was not at Tuesday’s appeals board meeting and did not respond to messages seeking comment by Republic deadline Tuesday.
Also absent from Tuesday’s meeting was a representative of Beck Rocker & Habig, LLC, the Columbus law firm that on June 14, 2022, filed notices of appeal for the properties in which O’Connor is listed as an owner.
An attorney from that firm, Timothy Cochren, sent letters to Bartholomew County Assessor Ginny Whipple challenging the methodology the assessor’s office used to set the value of the properties. Each letter for these properties was similar and says, “Given the fact that there were no improvements or other renovations made to the residence, the taxpayer does not believe the large increase in the effective year … is justified.”
Cochren could not be reached for comment by Republic deadline Tuesday.
In explaining the higher assessments, Whipple told board chairman Todd Boilanger and member Barb Dunlap that the state had updated tax tables and the base rate for assessing agricultural property in 2022. The county that year also updated market values, which, along with an increase in the neighborhood factor based on property sales, resulted in the increased assessment on the largest property. Whipple said similar factors resulted in the other assessment increases.
The appeals board had previously tabled action on the assessment appeals of these properties and two others owned by members of the O’Connor family at a January meeting due to requests for more information. The other O’Connor family properties also were represented by Cochren and appealed on the same grounds. The board also denied those appeals Tuesday.
Those two other O’Connor family properties include a 1.52-acre homestead owned by Albert and Kimberly O’Connor at 6585 E. County Road 50N — where the tax annual bill had risen from about $2,900 in 2021 to almost $4,400 last year. The other is a 2.65-acre parcel owned by Dean O’Connor at 6925 E. County Road 50N, where the annual tax bill increased from $1,658 two years ago to $2,490 last year, according to county tax records.
Meanwhile, the only property appeal exclusively listed in O’Connor’s name — the residence at 847 Carya Lane — does not appear in online public search records. Whipple said O’Connor had requested confidentiality for this property. It was not immediately clear why confidentiality was granted on the property record.
“It went from $225,200 to $218,200,” Whipple told the board of the assessment on the Carya Lane residence. “It decreased because of depreciation. It hit an age where it got more depreciation than it had in the previous year.”
After a momentary pause, Boilanger asked, “Why would Pia O’Connor appeal a property that lost value?”
“I have no idea,” Whipple replied. “I have not talked to Pia about any of these. I only talked to the attorney who filed them on her behalf.”
