A dispute over whether the nonprofit Pulaski Health Foundation has to pay property taxes on its Riverwood Commons apartment building appears to have been resolved. Sharon McKinley, the foundation’s executive director, told the Pulaski County Commissioners Monday that the housing development is designed for residents over the age of 55 with low-to-moderate incomes.
She said the Winamac apartment building was built back in 2000, with help from various government programs. “We were involved with this tax credit program, and after the 15 years of compliance, the foundation was able to go ahead and purchase this, so we could have full ownership,” McKinley explained. “We didn’t have full ownership the first 15 years. That’s how that program worked. And so once we did that, then we took on the losses of Riverwood.” Foundation representatives added that rents are controlled by the state, based on residents’ income.
The county’s property tax assessment board of appeals had denied the foundation’s claims for a tax exemption, according to Assessor Holly VanDerAa, and the dispute was about to head to the Indiana Board of Tax Review.
Instead, a compromise was reached. The foundation has agreed to pay the county $2,700 a year for the next 10 years. County Attorney Kevin Tankersley said that’s about 40 percent of what they’d been paying.
The agreement and a related ordinance were unanimously approved by the county commissioners Monday.
