Alex Dalton

With a seven-page ruling issued on November 13, the Indiana Department of Local Government, or DGLF, denied an ambitious and controversial attempt by the town of Merrillville to substantially boost spending and increase property taxes in the new year.

With the denial of an excess levy appeal filed last month, neither the town nor the Merrillville Fire Protection Territory will be able to exceed their state-set maximum property tax levies -- the total property tax revenue that a government entity is permitted to collect each year -- meaning that their total property tax revenue growth will be capped at 4% for the 2025 budget year.

Merrillville filed its appeal primarily as a means of funding staff increases in its police and fire departments, which officials said have been overburdened with ballooning call volumes in recent years. The town sought just over $14 million in additional tax revenue for the city and just under $6 million for the fire territory.

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The DGLF found that the town failed to substantiate claims of "emergency" circumstances that would allow for an increase to the maximum levy under Indiana law.

"The Town represents as an emergency a shortage of police and fire personnel. Such shortages do not constitute either a natural disaster or an accident, as the terms are commonly understood," DGLF Commissioner Daniel Shackle wrote. "The Town has also not demonstrated that the personnel shortages were unanticipated and are not capable of being addressed without an excess levy."

The town's proposed 2025 budget and the associated levy appeal proved highly contentious in Merrillville, with just four of the town council's seven members voting in favor of its final passage during the body's Oct. 8 meeting. Over 100 Merrillville residents showed up to the meeting to protest the proposed property tax increases, overflowing the council chambers and disrupting proceedings at several points.

Many of the demonstrators came in response to a Facebook post by Merrillville Clerk-Treasurer Eric January, who urged community members to speak against the budget's proposed tax increases. In a highly unusual move, January withheld his signature from the excess levy appeal filed with the DGLF later that month. He also compiled nearly 250 pages of resident testimonials opposing the appeal which he sent to the DGLF.

Shackle wrote that his agency "cannot consider the absence of Clerk-Treasurer January's signature alone is a basis for rejecting the Town's appeal," but added that "the Department does find that there is disagreement over the necessity of the appeal being filed among the Town's officials, which cannot be ignored," and noted "a notable number of residents who object to the appeal being pursued."

He further noted that the tax levy appeal for the fire protection territory did not include a resolution passed by the board of Ross Township -- which is also included in the territory -- as required by Indiana law.

In an email to The Times, interim town manager Michael Griffin reiterated a point he made multiple times during budget deliberations -- that the town always viewed the appeal as a long shot.

"All along, the town council was developing a 'likely' budget -- one that would be in place in the likely event that this appeal would not be granted," he wrote. "The maximum operating levy will only provide an increase of $323,434 (new dollars) for twelve departments plus the 1925 Law Police Pension Fund. This is an average of $24,880 per department."

Griffin said the town will review the town's 1782 notice -- used by the DGLF to inform units of any changes made to their budget -- once it is received from the agency, before determining its next steps. He added that he plans to discuss alternative plans for meeting the town's public safety needs with the Merrillville Town Council before commenting on the town's further options.

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