Hoosier Townships and How They Factor Into the Property Tax Discussion
Source: PHOTO: Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
STATEHOUSE–State government is looking for ways to help you save on property taxes as a main focus of this year’s legislative session. Wednesday at a hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee, it was pointed out that some of the costs that are driving taxes up have to do with the cost of running many townships.
The question was asked of Vernon Township Trustee Florence “Flory” May, if there are simply too many townships.
“I think a lot of us are asking are there opportunities for mergers and are there underperforming and not performing townships,” said May.
She testified that the cost of administration for those townships are heavy, especially when it comes to services like fire departments.
“As we go from rural to suburban, the challenges of, and I just went through merging two volunteer departments, incredibly challenging,” she said.
It was pointed out during the hearing that there are 2,384 “taxing units”, which is essentially 2,384 governments, with administrative costs. Not all provide full services. But each has associated costs, for which people pay taxes.
“We all want everybody to have good public safety, right?” asked May. “We all want that. So, how do we work together and partner. But, how do we also make sure we’re delivering services at the local level?”
Those are questions being worked out by the General Assembly. But, it’s still not clear what a final property tax solution might look like in this year’s session.
