Sheriffs, please see the information provided to the ISA on collecting
additional revenue for your pension fund. IC 33-37-3-1 defines a way that
can allow you to contribute more revenue to offset your cost on the pension.
The information has been provided by Sheriff Tim Troyer of Steuben County.
Steve,
As per my comments at the Board of Directors meeting Saturday afternoon I
have attached a copy of our letter we recently revised that goes out to
those we have tax warrants on. Julie has been doing research on this topic
for some time now and she has found what we believe to be the path to
follow.
The statute reference and attached code states we are not prevented from
collecting the ‘fee” from the defendant. Collecting from the defendant was
the primary concern for most Sheriff’s as traditionally fees are collected
from those requesting the action. The statute that has increased our fee
from $13.00 to $25.00 covers the fact that we are allowed to collect the fee
for tax warrants and IC33-37-3-1 clears the path for Sheriff’s to collect
the fee when people pay their tax warrant as the action would be considered
successful at that time.
We have begun collecting this fee for all tax warrants. The money received
is receipted into the Sheriff cash book. At the end of each month the money
collected goes on the report of collections to the county auditor and is
directed through that into the Sheriff Service of Process fund (same fund
the Clerk receipts into with civil process fee collection) which is a direct
stream into the pension as prescribed by law.
Hope this helps other Sheriff’s that wish to implement this collection in
helping them reduce costs to their pension plan. The legislature has made
changes and cleared paths to assist with the deficit on our pensions. We
must all follow that path together to show our county council and state
legislature we are doing everything we can and with everything that they
have provided for us in an effort to preserve it for years to come.
