TAX ALL OR TAX NONE
I ran into Indiana State Senator Luke Kenley at lunch yesterday. I asked him how the property tax hearings were going and he told me they were getting a lot of ideas and jokingly asked me if I had any? So in typical Abdul fashion I offered up my own.
I told him since property taxes aren’t going to go away in Indiana, we may as well tax ALL property. Now before I am accused of heresey and violating my economic conservative principles, hear me out.
Part of the problem with property taxes in Indiana is that so much property is off the tax rolls. In Center Township in Indianapolis nearly half the property is tax exempt because it is government owned, a chruch, in a tax increment finance district an abatement, etc.
My preference would be to treat property taxes like condo association fees. Everyone pays a standard fee (maybe based on square footage and the type of property) and that’s it. With everyone paying into system the tax burden on the individual taxpayers is lowered.
Expanding the tax base to lower taxes is not a new concept. The equivilent would be friends going out to dinner and splitting the check. The more people who pay, the lower the individual bill. Of course this is all done in the backdrop of government consolidation and spending controls.
But since property taxes aren’t going away, the only way to lower them might be to tax everyone.
