The final day of the 2016 legislative session, also known as Sine Die, has passed and legislators are now back in their districts. While each day at the Statehouse presented new challenges, I enjoyed working with lawmakers to pass legislation to keep Indiana moving forward. As I reflect upon all we were able to accomplish, it is important to highlight some measures that will have a positive impact on our community.
In 2015, 90 school corporations throughout Indiana had circuit breaker losses of at least 10 percent in their transportation fund. House Enrolled Act 1109 allows school corporations throughout Indiana to allocate circuit breaker credits proportionately among all school property tax funds through 2018. Circuit breaker caps limit the amount that taxpayers pay in property taxes to no more than a fixed percent of their property’s gross assessed value. If the tax liability exceeds the maximum allowed under the cap, then a credit would be applied to reduce the liability. The bill does not allow for an increase in property taxes, and the added flexibility will provide much-needed financial relief for school corporations’ transportation and debt service funds. These include Brownsburg, Avon, Danville and North West Hendricks school corporations.
In order to better prepare students for the workforce, I supported Senate Enrolled Act 301, which creates a partnership between the Department of Workforce Development (DWD), the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE) and Ivy Tech to ensure Hoosier students have the skills necessary to obtain jobs in the future. Specifically, the enrolled act requires that data compiled by the DWD on Indiana’s expected workforce needs in 10 years be shared with the CHE and Ivy Tech. The data will be categorized both regionally and statewide, and will be used by Ivy Tech to align coursework, degrees and certificates toward those high-demand areas.
This session, we also made significant progress in addressing Indiana’s state and local road funding needs. House Enrolled Act 1001 directs $186 million upfront to a local road and bridge matching grant account. The bill also redirects 1.5 cents of the 7 cents of sales tax on gasoline to the matching account as a source of ongoing funding and codifies the current equivalent of one cent already being dedicated to road funding. About $328 million will go toward state road and bridge preservation and maintenance over the next two years. Under Senate Enrolled Act 67, about $505 million in local option income tax reserves currently held by the state will be returned to local units with $330 million dedicated to roads. Specifically, Hendricks County will receive almost $24.5 million as a one-time payment.
Finally, we passed Senate Enrolled Act 308 to significantly decrease the property tax burden on Hoosier farmers. The bill eliminates the use of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2012 soil productivity factors, uses the most recent data available to determine the base rate for farmland assessment and changes the formula to limit the volatility in farmland property taxes.
Throughout the interim, I encourage you to continue contacting me with your thoughts and opinions regarding any issues affecting our community. For more information about these enrolled acts or others discussed during the 2016 session, contact my office at (317) 232-9790 or H28@iga.in.gov.
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State Rep. Jeff Thompson serves as K-12 Subcommittee Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. He also serves on the Elections and Apportionment Committee and the Education Committee. Rep. Thompson represents portions of Hendricks and Boone counties.
