VALPARAISO | While county officials struggle to get back on schedule mailing out property tax bills, an estimated $1.5 million in overdue personal property taxes are going uncollected.

The county also has yet to collect an estimated $2.1 million in property taxes after Portage Township won a 17-year-old tax battle in August against Jack Gray Transport Inc., which had been doing business at the Port of Indiana in Portage.

Porter County Treasurer James Murphy, who is charged with collecting the county's revenue, said his office mails out late notices to tax scofflaws and then seeks court judgments against those who fail to reply with a payment.

The debt, however, has been around for a long time and continues to grow, he said.

Many of the offenders are small businesses, which owe the money on equipment, Murphy said.

Among those on the list is the Hoosier Bat Co. in Valparaiso, which owes the county nearly $5,000 in overdue taxes, according to the treasurer's office. More than half the debt dates back to 1998, though there is an overdue payment of $609 from 2005.

Debbie Cook, who owns the company with husband David, said Thursday she was unaware of all but the 2005 bill and had planned to pay that debt, which she blamed on the poor economy..

She said the company underwent some changes several years ago that resulted in overdue tax bills, but she thought that had been cleared up. Cook planned to look into the matter.

Murphy said the county is allowed by law to have the Sheriff's Department attempt to collect the debt and if unsuccessful, confiscate the equipment in question. That approach is not used, he said.

Another option he is more in favor of is hiring a private company to collect the debt on behalf of the county. The company tacks on a fee to the tax bill to cover its costs, which means the county would not have to pay for the service.

Murphy said he ran a proposal from one company by the county attorney but was advised he should seek competitive bids before awarding the job. He said he has been too busy working on tax bills and new computer software, and is too short staffed to pursue the bids.

On the topic of the money owed by the Jack Gray company, Murphy said someone else in county government needs to reactivate that bill and send it his way before he can take action.

The bulk of the money owed by Jack Gray will go to the city of Portage and the Portage Township Schools, according to County Assessor John Scott, who became involved in the case while serving as assessor in Portage Township.