This year, the ides of March carry a special and difficult task for the General Assembly. Resolution of the property tax burden on taxpayers carries an extreme urgency for this session. Complaints and concerns about the current process have driven the discussion and caused a focus on the way Indiana finances local government and public education. Public hearings, both in the Statehouse and in various locations around the state, have gathered comments and data used to produce proposals to adjust our taxation system. No clear and concise solution has surfaced. Only a composite of the various testimonies received has allowed the financial committees to generate House Bill 1001. HB 1001 is the governor's plan to end the property tax crisis through tax caps on properties value. Senate Joint Resolution 1 is the second part of the plan, which would place the tax caps in the Indiana Constitution. Both bills are in conference committee, where differences between the House and Senate versions are being worked out. The House and Senate Republicans have come to an agreement on five main principles: Help for Hoosier homeowners. The plan features $700 million in new, immediate relief, $1 billion removed from property tax levies, referenda that empower voters to control or allow spending and a constitutional guarantee of property tax caps. Help for all Hoosier property-tax payers. Cut now and cap forever. The plan, in addition to immediate relief, forwards the process of permanent caps through a constitutional guarantee of property tax caps. Help for local governments. The plan, at the county level, removes four child-welfare levies and the cost of juvenile incarceration from property taxes. At the municipal level, it removes the remaining pre-1977 police and fire pensions from property tax, and it includes support for police and fire services. Help for Hoosier schools. The plan removes school operations, school pension bond costs and special education preschool costs from property taxes. It also includes $100 million in circuit-breaker relief and $400 million in tuition reserve fund money. Help for low-income Hoosiers. The plan includes an overall decrease in taxes for low-income taxpayers, renters' deductions, deductions for low-income senior-citizen homeowners and earned income credits. House Democrats are only in favor of a 1-percent cap on assessed value, and do not favor placing this language in SJR 1 to ensure it is a permanent cap. They completely ignore rental, agricultural and businesses property taxpayers. In addition, they don't want to shift any of the levies to the state, except for growth in the child welfare levy. By comparison, you can see there are significant differences. The Republican plan attempts to address all facets of financing local government and public schools. It follows the governor's framework bill that implements constitutional caps of 1 percent paid on residential homeowners, 2 percent paid on rental properties and agricultural land and 3 percent paid on businesses. There are methods made available to local governments to allow them to generate additional revenue if the caps prove to be too stringent. The Democrats' plan seems to give more latitude to education and has no protection for rentals, agricultural land and businesses. Differences may seem minor to the casual observer, but they create very divisive issues before an agreement can be reached. The conferees on the committee must all sign the committee report and recommend it to both chambers after full discussion with each caucus. Everyone is hoping that some compromise can be achieved. The citizens of Indiana deserve relief for this difficult issue. We all want the bill to have a better result than Caesar, who, after being stabbed in the back, said "Et tu, Brute?" and died on the Capitol floor on the ides of March. |
