Lake tax hike angers many

Some homeowners around Indianwood Lake are questioning a potential 23-percent tax increase on lake upkeep.
The Lake Improvement Board for Indianwood Lake is scheduled to meet Thursday (Oct. 18) at Township Hall to discuss and potentially vote on the reassessment, which would affect around 200 homeowners near the lake.
The estimated total cost will rise from just under $70,000 to over $85,000, based on the proposed assessment.
Treatment of the lake is paid for by members of several subdivisions, with some homeowners only having limited access to the lake and no frontage at all.
The increase would affect both riparian (on the lake) and non-riparian homeowners, though they pay different amounts.
Although the meeting will be held at on township grounds, it’s the lake board, not the township, that has oversight.
‘All the township does is act as the collection agent,? said Township Assessor John Attwell, noting the township distributes the money accordingly to those hired to do the work.
He said roughly 25 appeals were made back in 2002, the last time an assessment was decided on, with only one riparian among them.
Those seeking more information can attend the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. A Letter to the Editor on the matter appears in this web edition.