New Carlisle City Council held a hearing tonight on charges that Mayor Mike Lowrey had not paid his State Taxes in 2015.

The charges were brought by Council Member Chris Shamy at the December 23 Council meeting. Shamy introduced a motion that Lowrey be removed. The motion was seconded by Vice Mayor William Lindsey.

Shamy stated that the State had a judgement against Lowrey and his wife, April, for unpaid taxes.

At the hearing, Lowrey said that it was the first he had heard of a judgement.

He said that he had received a letter from the State stating that they had recalculated his 2015 taxes and that he owed around $1200.

Lowrey stated that he began making payments toward the outstanding amount and finally paid it off in February, 2019. He provided a copy of a letter from the State Department of Taxation stating that the outstanding amount had been paid.

“If taxes are paid because you’ve made a mistake, I don’t think that’s a big thing,” said Lowrey. He said that once he learned that there was a judgement against him, he took the letter from the State stating that his taxes were paid to the County Court House to have the judgement removed.

Shamy did not provide any further evidence in the hearing.

The vote was 7-0 against Lowrey’s removal.