TAX RELIEF
Indiana lawmakers are unveiling proposals for property tax relief this afternoon. The plans include the following:
1. Provide permanent tax relief by cutting residential property taxes by up to 50%.
2. Reduce growth in local spending, closing tax loopholes and restricting the use of tax increment financing and abatements.
3. Reforming the property assessment system with a taxpayer bill of rights and consolidating the township and county assessors into one office.
4. Providing alternative sources of funding for tax relief by expanding the sales tax to include non-essential services and use local option income taxes to reduce property taxes.
This is only step two in a three step move to lower property taxes and consolidate government in Indiana. Governor Mitch Daniels has already unveiled his plan for tax reform and the government reform commission headed by Former Governor Joe Kernan and Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard will present a reform plan before the end of the year.
