The Governor and legislative leaders will hold a joint news conference this afternoon over property tax reform.  The Governor will sign HB 1001.    The bill does a lot but it does not directly affect the assessment process, except to the extent it eliminates township assessors in townships with less than 15,000 parcels and calls for […]

I made a call to the Indiana Department of Revenue this morning on sales tax figures for the state.  I did this because the sales tax will be increased by one penny from 6 to 7 cents in order to provide Hoosiers with property tax relief.  Here’s a rundown of 2007 filings… Total Sales Tax […]

If you read yesterday’s post, I provided you with some details about why the Indiana State Teacher’s Union is not a big fan of the property tax reform plan that came out of the Legislature.    Well, today I have another one for you. ISTA was critical of the State picking up the final 15 percent […]

I can’t believe there are people in this world who can’t grasp the concept of reform.  I have heard people complain that local governments will lose money.   I think what they mean to say is governments will get to keep less of YOUR money.  One group that doesn’t get it is the Indiana State Teacher’s […]

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard announced this weekend that he is picking former City-County Councilor Sherron Franklin to oversee the city’s efforts to reduce the number abandoned homes. Ballard made the announcement Saturday at the monthly meeting of the Marion County Neighborhood Associations. Franklin, a Democrat and police officer, will be assigned under IMPD’s Crime Reduction […]

Okay, okay, enough with the Journey references already! But I couldn’t help myself. Let’s face it, it’s not everyday you get your hands around the biggest property tax reform package in darn near 50 years. So while my last post was who gets the credit, with this post we do another survey, who wins and […]

Okay guys, you knew this one was coming, it’s time to pick the person or persons most responsible for the first real meaningful tax reform in Indiana in 50 years. You can pick Governor Mitch Daniels, Sen. Luke Kenley, State Representative Bill Crawford, etc. You can also pick the tax protesters, Eric Miller, whomever. My […]

With strong majorities in both chambers Indiana lawmakers gave Hoosiers what they have been asking for months, property tax reform. The House voted 82-17 and the Senate 41-6 to cap assessments, cut taxes and assume levies, among other things. The two chambers by similar margins voted to put the tax caps in the Indiana Constitution. […]

I’m composing a list of winners and losers as a result of this session’s property tax reform for this weekend.  In addition to the obvious ones (i.e. the property taxpayers and even more so the protesters), but also Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard.  Ballard asked lawmakers to pick up the tab for those pre-1977 police pension […]

Although the bigger points of the Statehouse property tax reform have been spelled out there are quite a few details embedded in the 600-page document.  Here area few of them that may not not have made the headlines.  PTRC & Homestead Credits – There’s an additional $620 million in homestead credits to help reduce property […]