INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — In an effort to convince edgy Hoosier voters, several Republican senators offered a bushel of bills related to cutting property taxes in the Indiana General Assembly last week.

Earlier this month, many municipal elections across the state were affected by rising property taxes – including the surprising upset of Democrat incumbent Bart Peterson to relative unknown Republican challenger Greg Ballard for mayor of Indianapolis. Also, Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) has offered his own property tax plan that calls for hard caps on local government spending and annual tax increases.

The bills put forward last week by the GOP senators in many ways complement Daniels’ plan, but they include new additions.

“These are uneasy times requiring urgent action on the part of state and local leaders,” said Senate President Pro Tem David C. Long (R-Ft. Wayne). “For many Hoosiers, a property tax crisis exists. Significant action must be taken and must be taken swiftly.”

Many groups, such as Advance America which is campaigning for a repeal of property taxes, believe the GOP’s plan doesn’t go far enough. The Republicans said their efforts go as far as they believe is realistic.

“Our goals are to cut property taxes and cap them permanently through constitutional amendments that Hoosier voters may ratify at the ballot box,” explained Sen. Bob Meeks (R-LaGrange). “For those of us who studied closely the prospects of totally eliminating property taxes, today is no small step, but a giant yet realistic leap forward.”

Advance America polled 652 registered voters recently and found that 43 percent believe that rising property taxes is the single largest issue facing state lawmakers. The same poll lays most of the blame for the current tax crisis at the feet of the General Assembly, 27 percent; Gov. Daniels, 16 percent; and locally elected officials, 10 percent.

“Since voters hold the General Assem-bly most responsible for the property tax crisis followed by Gov. Daniels, I am hopeful that the senators and representatives, along with Gov. Daniels, will support the Constitutional Amendment to repeal property taxes,” said Advance America founder Eric Miller.

Several GOP bills include amendments to the state’s Constitution, but none of them repeal taxes. (Some of the proposals are summarized on page 2C.)

“Our reform package protects churches from losing tax exempt statuses, eliminates all state uses of property tax revenues and tightens controls on local government debt,” said Sen. Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville), who led a commission this summer that studied Indiana’s tax policies.

“We are offering a plan to reform Indiana’s assessment system, replacing it with fair, uniform, accountable and professionalized county-wide operations. Our plan lessens the property tax burden by removing child welfare and much school operational funding and appropriately shifts those state responsibilities to the state budget. And finally, we offer options to local government we hope will be fairer to our senior citizens and young families - who are often seen by economists as being house rich and income poor - and therefore hardest hit by property tax increases.”

Democrat response

Senate Democrats are beginning to respond to taxpayer angst, too. According to www.indianasenatedemo crats.com, Indiana Senate Democrats believe that Indiana should reduce its reliance on property taxes.

The Democrats believe the time in which a person’s wealth could be judged based on the amount of land they own is outdated. Because Indiana continues to use this “antiquated system,” Democrats claim families, farmers and small business owners are punished for investing in the state.

Indiana Senate Democrats support:

•Phasing out of all property taxes
•Limiting property tax relief for the wealthiest Hoosiers
•Instituting “circuit breakers” to prevent large increases in property tax bills
Key points

Kenley and Sen. Gary Dillon (R-Columbia City) said it is time to limit local government debt in Indiana. Senate Bill 18 is designed to encourage municipal governments and school districts to reduce their overall indebtedness. “In order to control the rise of property taxes, we must control the growth of debt,” Dillon said.

Economist Larry DeBoer of Purdue University said from 2000-06, Indiana has had an annual increase of approximately 10 percent in school debt service.

“Approximately 30 percent of all property taxes is going to pay for debt service and levies of capital projects, and we feel that’s too high,” Kenley said. “This bill is geared toward encouraging local government to pay off debt rather than extend it.”