The new benchmarking project released its first report cautioning Indiana taxpayers and state and local officials.
The report was produced by the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the IU Public Policy Institute.
Elastic revenues for cities, towns and townships decreased as a percentage of total revenue in 2012.
The report is part of a project called Fiscal Benchmarking for Indiana’s Local Governments.
It launched in 2012 as part of Policy Choices for Indiana’s Future, a program designed to provide decision makers with information about the problems facing state and local government.
“State laws that dictate how local governments operate have changed,” SPEA associate professor Jack Ross said in a University release.
“There are now caps on property taxes and more reliance on local-option income taxes.”
The first comprehensive benchmarking report was released Sept. 26 at the Indiana Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, according to the University.
The report provides 36 fiscal benchmarks for each of Indiana’s counties, townships, cities and towns.
A series of issue-based briefs will be released by the benchmark project team, according to the ?University.
This includes a brief to be released in November about the effects of the state’s property tax caps.
“This will give policy makers, local officials and interested citizens new, detailed information about the fiscal health of local governments,” said Jamie Palmer, senior policy analyst with the IU Public Policy Institute, in the University release.
To view the report, it is available in its entirety at ? policyinstitute.iu.edu.
Anna Hyzy
