TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010

Indiana Tax: Beast on two legs

by JIM ARNOLD, 01 June 2010 -- Two-legged terror. No, I am not talking about Sasquatch or your hyperactive 3-year-old. The two-legged terror of which I speak is the voracious beast, "Taximus Maximus," better known as property taxes.

One gnarly leg of this malicious monster is an excessive property-tax rate, and the other leg is inflated property-tax assessments.

Taximus Maximus has been the golden boy of local taxing units for his ability to generate tax revenue even during tough economic times. Whenever the budget came up short, the property-tax rate or property assessments or both could be finagled to generate additional property-tax revenue.

The property-tax caps phased in by HB1001 serve to restrain property taxes by limiting the tax rate to 1 percent for owner occupied properties, 2 percent for rental properties and 3 percent for commercial properties.

The Indiana Legislature passed identical legislation in two different sessions, thus providing Indiana citizens the opportunity to permanently write the property-tax caps into the Indiana Constitution by referendum this November. I implore all citizens to vote yes to permanent property tax caps.

But the other leg of the property tax beast, inflated property assessments, must also be shackled before he tramples more helpless property owners beneath his feet. Inflated property assessments provide extra revenue for the county at the expense of those property owners whose properties are over assessed.

How can we fix the problem of over assessed properties in Delaware County? Stay tuned for details.