INDIANAPOLIS | The property tax tango with the state is almost over, meaning Lake and Porter County residents can expect to receive bills in November or December.

Homeowners typically receive the first of two annual tax bills in April, but a new assessment system slowed the work of local officials, precipitating data discord with the state, finger pointing and further delay. The dance should end next week.

"We are doing everything we can to expedite the process, and we hope that we can have the (tax rates) to them by next week," Mary Jane Michalak, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, said Tuesday.

Once the hand-off occurs, Porter County will need roughly six weeks to calculate, print and mail bills, meaning they likely would hit mailboxes in mid-November. The estimated turnaround time is eight to nine weeks for Lake County, so property owners there probably would get bills in late November or early December.

While they were months late in completing their own work, local officials have grumbled about the amount of time it has taken the Department of Local Government Finance to review tax rates. St. Joseph County officials last week accused the state of deliberately delaying so that bills would arrive within weeks of contentious South Bend mayoral election.

Lake County officials didn't go so far as to level political allegations, but they questioned whether the state had adequate staff to approve tax rates in a timely manner.

"There's been a lot of changes, a lot of people leaving (the Department of Local Government Finance), and I think that's probably where part of the problem might have been," Lake County Auditor Peggy Katona said Tuesday.

The Department of Local Government Finance defended itself by releasing a timeline showing Lake County's initial tax work came in 11 months late and was delayed another month by questions concerning local budgets. The state did not release a similar schedule for Porter County, and Auditor Jim Kopp and Treasurer Jim Murphy couldn't be reached for comment late Tuesday.

Lake County Treasurer John Petalas said he probably will ask taxpayers to make only one payment this year, meaning they likely would face three installments in 2008. He was glad to hear the state review is almost over.

"It's a shame it took this long," he said. "Hopefully in the future we can, maybe through better cooperation, get this done a lot quicker."