| Rebates nearly in the mail
CROWN POINT | Property tax rebate checks will blossom in Lake County mail boxes early next month, county officials said Monday.Lake County Auditor Peggy Holinga Katona said she expects to be sending out $28.1 million in rebate checks by early May."Within three weeks, checks will be in the mail," she said.She said the county will send out 133,380 checks.The rebate is a one-time, tax relief package the Indiana General Assembly enacted last year to offset property tax increases.State officials said last year the average rebate would be about $236.Katona said she expects rebates to average from 10 percent to 13 percent of the homestead's bill, which was paid late last year. The rebates will not go to those who failed to pay taxes last year or those already enjoying property tax caps.She said anyone who still owes property taxes will get a letter indicating their rebate was applied to the delinquency.The rebates also will be reduced for the nearly 30,000 homeowners -- primarily in Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, Whiting, Griffith, and Munster -- whose properties already are protected by the circuit breaker, which caps property taxes at 2 percent of gross assessed value of homes there.
Liberia: Civil Servants' Salaries to Be Increased
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says her government intends to increase the salaries of civil servants in what she called, "a small way" in the next fiscal budget. At the moment, the minimum salary for a civil servant stands at US$55.00, which is an equivalence of L$3,300.00. .
McCain urges relief for US drivers under new economic plan
Republican White House hopeful John McCain outlined Tuesday a fuel tax "holiday" for hard-pressed drivers among a raft of measures designed to bolster the flagging economy. McCain, attacked by his Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for taking a hands-off approach to the gathering crisis in the US housing market, said his plan focused "on actually helping families." In a speech, the Arizona senator played on the title of an Obama book, attacking the two Democrats for planning "to raise your taxes by thousands of dollars per year -- and they have the audacity to hope you don't mind." McCain proposed expanded federal and state guarantees for tuition loans, in case college students suffer from the credit crunch now roiling the US and global economy.
DIFFERENCE MAKER: Griffis comes to aid of fellow veterans
Acoustic trauma. That's the Veterans Administration's term for the hearing loss that represents the most common problem for which former servicemen and women seek relief -- an affliction of his own that Jerry Griffis addresses with characteristic humor. .
Tax deadline is today
Juan and Lily Guitierrez walked out of the Greenville post office Monday morning with smiles and a collective sense of relief. The couple said they traveled halfway around the world to Greenville this week for two reasons — the birth of their child and to file their taxes. .
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