Opinion
No. 08S02-1402-MI-78
12-04-2014
IN RE: THE CARROLL COUNTY 2012 TAX SALE TWIN LAKES REGIONAL SEWER DISTRICT, Appellant (Intervenor Below), v. STEVEN E. HRUSKA, VIRGINIA HANNA, EQUITY TRUST Appellees (Petitioners below) COMPANY FBO #80677, (Petitioner below), AND CARROLL COUNTY, INDIANA, BY AND THROUGH THE CARROLL COUNTY AUDITOR Appellee (Respondent below).
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT Donald J. Tribbett Tribbett Law Office Logansport, Indiana ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES Dale W. Arnett Winchester, Indiana ATTORNEYS FOR AMICUS CURIAE Indiana regional Sewer District Association Anne H. poindexter Stephenie K. Gookins Campbell Kyle Proffitt LLP Carmel, indiana
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT
Donald J. Tribbett
Tribbett Law Office
Logansport, Indiana
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLEES
Dale W. Arnett
Winchester, Indiana
ATTORNEYS FOR AMICUS CURIAE
Indiana regional Sewer District Association
Anne H. poindexter
Stephenie K. Gookins
Campbell Kyle Proffitt LLP
Carmel, indiana
Appeal from the Carroll Circuit Court, No. 08C01-1208-MI-15
The Honorable Benjamin A. Diener, Judge
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 08A02-1303-MI-220
Dickson, Justice.
The facts in this case parallel those of Twin Lakes v. Ray, 08S04-1402-MI-97, ___ N.E.3d ___ (Ind. 2014), which we contemporaneously issue today. In both cases, the same trial court granted landowners' requests to remove their properties from the list of properties subject to tax sale, and Twin Lakes Regional Sewer District appealed, challenging the trial court's interpretation of Indiana Code section 13-26-14-4. For the same reasons expressed today in Ray, we also reverse the judgment of the trial court in the present case.
As we hold today in Ray, the lien foreclosure prohibition of Indiana Code section 13-26-14-4, governing the collection of regional sewer district sewer liens, does not apply to collection by tax sale. Here, because the District employed the tax sale method rather than seeking collection of the landowners' unpaid sewer bills and penalties through foreclosure, the lien foreclosure prohibition clause does not apply. The judgment of the trial court removing the landowners' properties from the tax sale list is reversed, and this cause is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. Rush, C.J., Rucker, David, and Massa, JJ., concur.