Hank Adams

1/18/2011 As I am now the Lake County Assessor, if you need help that is specific to St John Township, a good place to start is at my successor's page MelodyKikkert.com.

11/8/2010 Please note, While my staff and I are happy to help with issues you may have with your tax bill and assessed values, there are some thing we can do nothing to help with. If your problem is a missing exemption, you will need to contact the County Auditor's office at 219-755-3120

11/3/2010 I am now the Lake County Assessor elect, barring a recount, as I won the race by a very narrow margin (0.6% 668 votes). I will be working on changing this site over to a more countywide perspective, and will be working with my successor Melody Kikkert in creating a site for her as St John Township Assessor.

9/16/2010 The smaller yard signs are in 18"x24" Contact me here or through Facebook Or you can pick up a sign at the Campaign headquarters at:

9167 Wicker Ave

St John, IN 46373

9/8/2010 DIY Window Signs! These are .pdf files, designed for up to 18x24 inches, easily scaled down to 8x10 while printing in Adobe Acrobat Reader. The signs come in 2 flavors, white text on a red background (Which I think looks nicer, buts goes through ink like mad) and red text on a white background (easier on the ink). If you want to show support, but don't want to wait for yard signs, or cannot afford to donate money, this is one way to do it. Print one of these and it will easily fit in your car window, or the front window of your home.

8/27/2010 A column from Two Rich. Also, the hearing to determine whether I stay on the ballot for Lake County Assessor has been tentatively scheduled. September 3, I have been told to be there by 10:30 AM, and would like to invite everyone who can to come out in support. In the East building on the Lake County Government Center, in the Comissioners Courtroom.

More details as I get them.

8/9/2010 Since I have been asked, if you would like to send a contribution to the Republican Campaign for Lake County Assessor, you can send a check payable to " Hank Adams Political Fund" to

Hank Adams Political Fund

P.O. Box 543

Schererville, IN 46375

Other ways to help can be found here.

7/23/2010 An interesting letter to the Editor in the NWITimes.

7/07/2010 Rich James of the Post Tribune believes that Lake county Democrats will determine whether I win as Lake County Assessor. I can't argue with that.

7/07/2010 Lake general election will make history. In the Post Tribune, opinion section. I am also now on Facebook.

7/02/2010 Yes, I am running for County Assessor. I have arranged to be replaced on the ticket for Township Assessor by Melody Kikkert, (Facebook link) who currently works in this office and whom I consider to be highly qualified.

6/17/2010 Link to Bill Dolan's 6/16 story at nwi.com.

6/7/2010 Added a copy of and link to Rich James' editorial in the PostTribune on 6/4/2010

6/3/2010 we have had people asking about our field personnel accessing their home and property. This in part explains it. The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance also has a guide for taxpayers. If you are the sort of person who prefers to find this sort of information for themselves, This link will take you to the entire Indiana legal code. The most relevant to this is IC 6-1.1-4-15 I hope this helps.

4/6/2010 Check the sidebar for information on the 2010 reassessment.

2/24/2010 Link for you. Property Tax Board of Appeals Written by Barry Wood of the Department of Local Government Finance.

1/15/2010 The appeals form on this site has been updated, inpart to make it more explanatory. The new version both point out need for evidence, as well as pointing out that the legal True Tax Value lags behind market value by approximately 2 years.

11/4/2009 A couple of recent Indiana Board of Tax Review decisions for you: here and here (pdf format, linked from state site.).

10/2/2009 You may have heard that elected officials in Lake County have been ordered to make a 15% across the board cut in their budgets. This is the memo ordering it and giving the minimum amounts to be cut. We have complied, and it was extremely difficult to do.

9/11/2009  Property taxes for 2008, payable in 2009 are now available. The bills should be mailed within a couple of weeks, with payments due on October 28 for the first installment, and November 30 for the second. You can contact us at:

(219) 365-2777 and we can look the amounts up for you, but all payments must be made through the Lake County Treasurer's Office.

7/24/2009 The General reassessment has been delayed for one year, to begin on 7/1/2010 Here is a copy of the memo sent out.

7/7/2009 Schererville News column posted, with updates not available when it was being written for publication.

4/16/2009 Posted most recent Schererville Community News column.

3/20/2009 Note: St. John Township will be doing our own assessment, not hiring an outside contractor. This will save St. John taxpayers money, and based on past experience actually get the job done properly.

3/5/2009 A page providing Appeals information has been added, check to the left or click here.

12/16/2008 When comparing our spreadsheet and the State's bill estimator, our spread sheet comes much closer to reality on the bills we have seen to compare them to. Your mileage may vary. If you are visiting this site checking out Indiana property outside of St. John Township, the State's link is still the better bet.

Update  11/06/2008 A hearty Thank you to the intelligent voters of St John Township.

Update 10/30/2008 Guest Commentary at the NWI Times.

Update 10/16/2008 Big decisions coming up. There will be a referendum on the November 4, 2008 ballot that will decide whether to transfer all assessing duties to the county level, and chances are to outside contractors, or whether to keep the duties at a local level.

The exact phrasing will be: "Should the assessing duties of the elected township assessor in the township be transferred to the county assessor?"

If you want to keep the person assessing your property in St. John Township accountable to the voters of St. John Township, you need to vote “No.” That's option 186 on the last page of the ballot.

Update 10/17/2008 a link to a .pdf file from the state showing changes in how the Homestead deduction is figured.

Update 10/07/2008 Most recent Schererville news column posted here. Also a shorter more propaganda flavored version here in PDF format, if you agree, feel free to print a few out and pass them along.

Update 9/23/2008 According to the DLGF, the Lake County budget review is in progress, another step in determining the final pay 2008 tax bill.

Update 8/8/2008 It's not ready yet, as the tax rates have not been finalized, but we are preparing another spreadsheet to help you determine your tax bill before it arrives.

Update 5/6/2008 Update to the FAQ about the potential annexation of parts of Unincorporated St. John Township.

Before filing an appeal, ask yourself this question, "Can I sell my property for within 10% (plus or minus) of the assessed value?"