St. Joseph County approves $80,000 printing and mailing agreement for annual Form 11 notices

St. Joseph County commissioners on Feb. 11 voted to approve a services and pricing agreement with Midwest Presort to print and mail the annual Form 11 assessment notices required by the state of Indiana.

Michael Caslon, St. Joseph County assessor, told the board the state requires the county to notify taxpayers of any change in assessment "through the Form 11 program that's required to be sent out every year." He asked commissioners for approval so the assessor's office can meet state standards.

Commissioners discussed the cost of the mailing. One commissioner noted the total request was "80 plus thousand dollars" and said "almost 60,000 is just for postage alone," calling the expense a burden on taxpayers. Caslon said the assessor's office is "working with the DLGF to see if we can go digital with that notice to the taxpayers through our current website and then obviously through the email system," but added that not all residents have internet access and the office must comply with state requirements.

The board approved the agreement on a voice vote: Commissioner Morton voted yes, Commissioner Hazen voted aye and Commissioner Bechtel voted aye.

Caslon said any move to digital would require contacting individual taxpayers to verify whether they can accept digital notices before implementing changes.

The agreement with Midwest Presort will proceed as approved; the transcript does not specify contract start date, exact contract number, or whether the $80,000 figure is the final contract total or an estimated annual amount.