LEGAL WRANGLINGS
For those of who missed me this morning, I was over at the Indiana Tax Court listening to arguments involving one the recent lawsuits over property taxes. The main issue I was following was the 65-percent increase in the Marion County income tax. The plaintiffs argued the tax was passed illegally because then City-County Councilor Patrice Abduallah did not live in his district at the time of the tax vote and therefore it was illegal. Attorneys for the city say the complaint should have been dismissed because Abduallah was a “defacto” elected official, which means although he should not have been on the Council there is a strong public policy reason to not overturn the tax increase.
The city’s attorneys did acknowledge that Abduallah did not live in the District and the office was vacant. However, they cited case law where officials who did serve improperly did have their decisions upheld. However, what distinguishes this case from those was the prior knowledge of the County Clerk and constructive knowledge of the Council President, Monroe Gray, that Abduallah did not live in his district.
If the Court were to hold that Abduallah’s vote was valid , this, in my not so humble opinion, would give elected officials cart blanche to break the law and if they get caught the decisions can stay. It is one thing to have an elected official forget to sign an oath of office, it is another thing to blatantly violate the law and there be no penalty.
A decision on whether the case should be dismissed is expected within 10 days.
