Source: (Photo: Ingram Publishing/Thinkstock)
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Many homeowners in Marion County are receiving property tax bills with a sharp increase in assessed value, some bills going up by as much as 29 percent. Democrat State Rep. Ed DeLaney is calling for reform of Indiana’s property tax system, highlighting its inability to keep pace with the rapidly changing housing market. This has left schools struggling to fund operations, capital projects, and debt paydown. DeLaney has also pointed out the competition between Indiana’s many local government units for the same property tax dollar.
DeLaney has criticized the current system for requiring the supermajority to jury-rig it. For example, Republican legislators added a new ‘operations fund’ to our school funding formula this year using income tax revenue to help areas of the state with lower property values and, thus, lower property tax revenue for schools. A functioning tax system would not require that, nor would it force schools to resort to referenda to seek funding.
DeLaney is calling for reforms that would make the property tax system more responsive to changing market conditions and less burdensome for homeowners, schools, and local governments. He believes a more sustainable and equitable system is needed, one that does not rely on referenda or income tax revenue to plug gaps in funding.
