Niki Kelly, writing for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has an article entitled, “GOP analyst has tax relief proposal.”
I didn’t get a good idea of just which Republicans were behind this proposal, just that the Senate Republican fiscal analyst presented it. Basically, the proposal would eliminate the property tax relief credits and homestead credits and use that money to pay for welfare levies and school general funds. The State would have to come up with an additional $400 million to make this work. Residential homeowners would see no change in their property taxes, landlords would see a 3% drop, and businesses would see a 12% drop.
The article further mentioned that Sen. Kenley has advised there won’t be any substantial property tax legislation going through on Organization Day in November. However, it seems likely that the General Assembly will ratify some deadline extensions made unilaterally (read – illegally until the General Assembly say otherwise) by the Governor.
Just like the GOP to come up with a proposal that helps business but provides no relief for homeowners.
I can understand that the property owners needing help with the taxes on the property they own. The thing I do not understand is the new proposal calls for a increase in sales tax. This system forces those who do not own property to pay taxes for those who do. The majority of those who own property will get a nice deduction when they file their income taxes. What does the non-owners get? The only answer that I can come up is another good one from Mitch!