Niki Kelly has an article for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette entitled Property tax relief to guide legislative session
She writes:
Property tax relief will likely headline the 2006 General Assembly as House Republicans who want to retain control of the chamber recognize it as a hot-button issue for voters.
Apparently they think the projected 7-11% increase in property taxes arising out of the budget they passed last year won’t sit too well with the voters. (To be clear, the State didn’t pass any property tax increases; they structured the budget so that local officials had to be the hatchet men.)
The legislators are looking at the tax amnesty money to use for property tax relief. They low-balled the estimated amnesty revenue at $65 million and figure they have $135 million to play with because the Dept. of Revenue has reported receipts of about $200 million from the program. (I’d caution against relying on that figure until we see how firm that number is.) Cigarette taxes are also being considered. Apparently Indiana’s cigarette taxes are well below the national average.
I’d be worried about using the amnesty money to fund property tax relief, because it’s a one time deal whereas the extra burden on local government and, consequently, on property taxes appears to be a built-in problem. Perhaps you could allocate the income expected from stepped-up enforcement efforts, since that would presumably be more of a continuing stream.
My recommendation for the amnesty money: shore up the public employee pension funds, TRF and PERF. I know those are underfunded. Dumping the amnesty money into those funds would help ensure that those obligations of the State remain solvent. It’s not glamorous, to be sure, but it would be a prudent place to invest the money.
Jennifer Whitson also has a story on property taxes in the Evansville Courier Press.