Nov. 8--Barbara Ong of Middlebury has a bone to pick with the county.

Having recently been unemployed for nearly two years, Ong -- like so many others in Elkhart County these days -- is worried about her ability to pay her property tax bill by Tuesday's deadline.

While the county's current policy allows taxpayers to pay their bills in installments, each installment is accompanied by a penalty -- penalties that Ong says can quickly add up to a significant chunk of money.

"Each time you pay a portion of the total bill, you have to pay a fine," Ong said. "So, say you want to break it up into four payments. You'd have to pay a fine with each one of those. People are just barely scraping by right now. A lot of us can't afford that."

What's more, Ong recently found out through an Aug. 7 memo from the Department of Local Government Finance that counties have the ability to offer installment or automatic deduction plans without the need for penalties.

"I got my bill last Thursday and it was quite a bit higher than last year, so I called up the Treasurer's office and told them I could pay half now and half at the end of the year," Ong said. "I asked them if there was anything they could do so I wouldn't have to pay a penalty, because those fees add up quick. I told them my history -- that I was divorced, I was out of a job, and I have three kids -- and they basically said 'too bad, there's nothing we can do. It's the state's problem.'"

Not satisfied, Ong preceded to call up her state representatives to further investigate the matter, eventually contacting both the offices of Sen. Carlin Yoder and state Rep. Wes Culver.

"Carlin called me back, and then someone from Culver's office called back, and they were incredibly helpful," Ong explained. "They basically told me that no, it's not the state's problem and the county is actually sovereign when it comes to things like this. After hearing this, I decided to call the governor's office and got a hold of an assistant who informed me of the Aug. 7 memo by the DLGF that was sent out to all the counties saying 'lets give these guys a chance and put up an alternate payment plan.' "

Distributed by DLGF Commissioner Timothy J. Rushenberg, the Aug. 7 memo essentially states the DLGF's recommendation to county officials that such monthly installment or automatic deduction plans be established.