Niki Kelly reports on a Democratic property tax relief plan. This comes close on the heels of an earlier Republican press conference on property taxes. Look, at this point, it’s nice that you guys have plans; but, frankly, we’re not the ones you need to be talking to. That part of the process has come and gone. You have to hammer out agreements with your fellow lawmakers. So, enough with the press conferences. Republicans want to make sure lots of property taxes get shifted to other places. Democrats are less ambitious and want to focus on reducing residential property taxes and don’t seem to concerned about non-residential properties; they also say that the Republicans have proposed a plan the State can’t afford. All of these are fine issues for discussion – amongst yourselves. Enough with the negotiation by press conference
My guess is that both sides are anticipating *not* coming to an agreement during this session and they are trying to lay the groundwork to blame the other party. “Remember, *we* had worked out a plan; we told you all about it…”
Brenda,
If there’s no agreement then Democrats will get 100% of the blame. The governor put his plan forward and since it was the only game in town it has become immensely popular.
The current Democratic plan is a farce and contains none of the provisions that citizens demand.
No Referendums
No Permanent Relief
No Caps On School Spending
Of course I don’t believe they are politically savvy enough to realize they are the ones staring down the barrel of the property tax gun…
What Democratic plan?
Crawford & Bauer just took the Republican plan and made some changes based on what they thought looked cool. The 1% cap based on income (a number the state doesn’t track, and something sure to get overturned in court just like the old system) tells me everything I need to know about their plan.
Orentlicher at least bothered with a plan before the session started, which is a lot more than Bill Crawford’s done. For all the folks who complain that Mitch Daniels has too many “out there” ideas, compare that to the Indiana Derivative Party.
The D’s 1% plan won’t be overturned by the courts because it is a constitutional amendment, just like the R’s 1% plan. Otherwise, they would both be overturned.
While I don’t favor the D’s plan because I think it will hurt local governments too much, I don’t believe that it is otherwise unworkable. Your property is assessed and you have to pay that amount unless you can show that you are entitled to pay less, which you show by allowing them access to your tax return (which DoR already has) or including a copy of your federal tax return.
Your property should be assessed and you should pay the amount. If you can’t afford to pay it, move.