NOBLE COUNTY, Ind. — The Noble County assessor’s administrative review panel met Dec. 19 and approved assessor-proposed changes to several 2025 property assessments while hearing repeated complaints from residents about rising property-tax bills and how recent state law changes affect homestead deductions.

Ben Castle, the Noble County assessor, opened the session and read the statutory hearing script for each appeal. Taxpayers appeared in person or were noted absent for several cases. Sam Meyer, representing his wife Crystal Schulz, said the family had paid “roughly $6,000 in property taxes for a 15 to 16 acre parcel” after inheriting the land through an estate and asked the board to explain a sudden jump in the bill. Assessor staff advised the family to provide a current appraisal and to schedule an interior inspection so staff could reassess condition and grading.

Several senior residents spoke during appeals. Nancy Ziegler, 81, told the board she felt the tax burden was unfair on fixed incomes: “I’m 81 years old and my taxes have gone up and I feel like I have paid paid my dues over the years.” Staff and board members pointed taxpayers to new provisions in the 2024–25 state tax changes (referred to in the hearing as SB 1/SEA 1) that alter homestead deductions and add temporary tax credits; they also recommended checking eligibility for county auditor exemptions.

On technical points, assessor staff explained the office’s mass-appraisal process: market-trend adjustments are applied across townships and comparable sales inside a 6-by-6-mile grid can produce percentage shifts that affect many parcels at once. For agricultural land, staff said the state sets baseline values (the hearing record cites a $2,120-per-acre baseline for 2025) that counties must apply when classifying farmland.

The panel approved a series of motions to accept assessor-proposed values or reductions for individual parcels. Motion text was recorded on the hearing form (Form 115 / Form 130) and carried by voice vote in each instance; where the transcript records a specific dollar figure or shorthand that is ambiguous in the audio, the board’s formal written determinations on the county forms will provide the authoritative amounts. The assessor said those forms would be mailed to the parties and that taxpayers retain the right to petition the state review body if they disagree.

The board repeatedly advised appellants to check homestead and exemption filings with the auditor’s office and to bring current appraisals or other documentary evidence to follow-up inspections. Castle said the office would schedule interior inspections when requested and that staff aim to help taxpayers where possible: “Anything we can do that helps our taxpayers, we do,” he said.

The session concluded after the board carried several motions to adjust values for single-family parcels and condominium units across Kendallville and surrounding townships. The assessor’s office will send written notices of the panel’s decisions and the next local hearing dates were noted on the record (including a Jan. 9 calendar placeholder mentioned during the session).

Votes at a glance

- Motion recorded (transcript): the board accepted the assessor’s offered appraisal for an appealed parcel (transcribed in the record as a motion to “accept the appraisal value of $3.24”); motion seconded and carried by voice vote. (Transcript: motion recorded at SEG 625; board carried by voice vote.)

- Motion recorded (transcript): the board accepted the assessor’s change on another appealed parcel (recorded in the transcript as “accept the assessor’s change of $1.94”); motion seconded and carried by voice vote. (Transcript: SEG 946.)

- Condominiums / Kendallville cluster: staff proposed and the board approved a market-factor decrease for multiple condo units after examining a recent sale that pulled median values down; the panel set a reduced reference value for one subject unit and agreed to apply consistent percentage changes to adjacent units. (Transcript: cluster discussion and votes SEG 1647–1943; specific motions SEG 1930 and SEG 2136.)

- Multiple additional parcel adjustments were approved by voice vote during the session; written forms will record the formal values and serve as the official decisions. (See transcript motions at SEG 2252 and SEG 2343.)

Why it matters

Local assessment adjustments translate directly into changes in property-tax bills and can have outsized effects on residents on fixed incomes and small farmers. The session highlighted recurring concerns about mass-appraisal trend factors, the administrative steps taxpayers must take after estate transfers, and the need for clear, current appraisal evidence when disputing values.

What happens next

The assessor’s office will mail formal forms documenting each appeal decision; taxpayers who remain dissatisfied can petition the state review panel per the standard appeals process. The assessor’s office also said it would schedule on-site visits where appropriate and encouraged appellants to verify exemption and homestead filings with the county auditor.

(Reporting available on the Noble County assessor’s website; the assessor read statutory citations from IC code 6-1.1-1-1 during the hearing.)