If you’re a property owner in Indiana, there’s good news. You and your fellow residents will save approximately $400 million this year thanks to a property tax cap.
The bad news? You may not have enough fire, police and other local services to watch over it.
Like in so many states around the country, Indiana’s rising property taxes have left people struggling. And unhappy. So unhappy that not only did the incumbent mayor of Indianapolis lose his re-election bid in 2007 in a huge political upset but a proposed constitutional amendment limiting property taxes began its journey to becoming law in 2008.
Interestingly, the proposed constitutional amendment to limit property taxes to 1 percent of the assessed value for residential homes, 2 percent for rentals and 3 percent for businesses is popular with close to two-thirds of voters when polled at the beginning of 2010 according to the Wall Street Journal. This despite public schools looking to slash 3.5 percent of their budgets and emergency and other services being cut left and right. The city of Muncie, for example, lost almost one-third of its firefighters and had to shutter two of its seven stations.
Of course it isn’t all the property tax cap’s fault. The recession and decline of sales tax revenue (despite being raised from 6 to 7 percent) hasn’t helped either. But is a property tax cap the answer?
Only time will tell. Already it has been approved by two different state legislatures (in 2008 and 2010). Next step the ballot box...in order for a constitutional amendment to become law it must be given the thumbs up by a majority of voters in the November election so stay tuned!
