Property taxes get ‘significant recommendations’ today

INDIANAPOLIS – The chairman of a bipartisan commission studying Indiana’s property tax woes plans to make “significant recommendations” during Tuesday’s commission meeting – suggestions he said could lead to homeowners’ property tax bills being cut in half.\nState Sen. Luke Kenley said many of the recommendations he will make to the Commission on State Tax and Financing Policy are based on a plan Gov. Mitch Daniels proposed earlier this month.\nWhile Daniels has said his plan would help cut the average Hoosier homeowner’s tax bill by more than a third, Kenley said his proposal would make even deeper cuts.\n“We think it’s possible to cut each homeowner’s property tax bill in half and those who have residential rental properties by 25 percent,” he said in a statement Monday.\nTuesday’s meeting of the five-member tax commission caps a series of discussions that began in late July that have focused on Indiana’s property tax system.\nKenley, a Noblesville Republican, said the commission will consider a package of ideas that could be turned into bill proposals for the 2008 legislative session.\nThe upcoming session is expected to be dominated by the issue of property taxes because although taxes on homeowners were projected to increase by 24 percent on average statewide this year, many taxpayers have faced even higher bills.\nKenley said that the recommendations that will be presented to the panel will include ways to restructure Indiana’s local government \nrevenue process.\n“The commission recognizes property taxes are a big issue and that many other problems are created because of them for businesses, homeowners and senior citizens on fixed incomes,” said Kenley, who also is also chairman of the Senate Tax Committee.\nOn Oct. 23, the governor said his tax plan would cap residential property taxes at 1 percent of a home’s assessed value, at 2 percent for rental properties and 3 percent for businesses.\nHis proposal also would raise the state sales tax by 1 percentage point, provide an additional homestead deduction and impose several controls on local spending, including voter referendums for major building projects.