I don’t know whether to blame the reporting or the Governor for my annoyance on this one. Mary Beth Schneider, writing for the Indy Star, has an article entitled Homeowners get tax deadline extension.
Gov. Mitch Daniels today gave an extension to homeowners who missed the June 10 deadline to obtain a homestead deduction and credit exemption on their 2008 property taxes.
Homeowners now have until Oct. 15 to seek the exemptions. The standard homestead deduction reduces the taxable value of a home, so long as it is occupied by the owner, by as much as $45,000, while the homestead credit reduces the amount of taxes owed.
The action, though, must be ratified by the legislature. Daniels said he has spoken to legislative leaders, who agree with the step. They are expected to retroactively approve the extension when they gather for what usually is a one-day organizational meeting in November.
So, Governor Daniels hasn’t given homeowners anything other than a promise to ask legislators to grant homeowners an extension. Homeowner’s do not “now have until October 15”. If the Governor’s request is granted by the legislature in November, homeowners will have had until October to seek the exemptions.
I’m probably just picking nits here, but given the Governor’s power-seeking tendencies, I’ve become sensitized to his overreaching.
Doug-
I don’t think you are picking nits here, and I wouldn’t say the governor is merely power-grubbing (OK, that isn’t quite the word you used). I wonder if the Governor’s SOP isn’t simply to “create a climate for change” by creating a crisis, and then avoiding blame for the crisis by making sure it occurs at the county, not the state, level? Not only does he avoid the blame, but he gets to present himself as some sort of messiah by the (technically meaningless) grandstanding reported in the article.