Are we ready for this Constitutional amendment?

The fact that farm land values continue to rise is a major part of the equation missing in this article. From $880 to $1200 per acre is just the start as predictions have farm land values rising to $1600 in just a couple years. Even though the state is now covering school's General Fund at 100% they fail to mention that they dropped the transportation fund back on property taxes therefore offsetting their costs. Also when you here Farm land is capped at 2% their livestock buildings are capped at 3%. Even the republicans can understand that the rising land value assessments are a problem that should be dealt with. Contact your State Representative or Senator and express your thoughts.

Constitutional Tax Fight Heating Up at Statehouse
01/28/2009
by Gary Truitt

In addition to passing a budget, the Indiana General Assembly will be deciding if there should be a change in the state constitution to lock in changes made in the property tax system last year. The Governor supports the constitutional amendment that would lock in property tax cuts for home owners while causing tax bills for farmers to go up. Don Villwock, President of Indiana Farm Bureau, told HAT that many lawmakers are beginning to have second thoughts about amending the state constitution, “We are getting strong signals from the legislature that they are nervous about passing the constitutional amendment.” He said there are to many unanswered questions and unintended consequences. He noted that once put into the state constitution it would take 5 years to get it back out.

This is very much a rural/urban issue. In urban areas there are other entities to make up the difference when homeowner property taxes are reduced. Willwock said in rural counties, when the homeowner tax base is capped, that leaves only farmland to make up the difference, “We call it the shift and shaft.” Farm Bureau estimates that farmland tax bills could increase by as much as 20%.

What is especially agitating to farmers is that homeowners use the majority of the local services that tax dollars pay for, while corn and soybean fields bear the burden of those taxes. The Senate Tax Committee passed, along party lines, the tax cap measure this week, and it is expected to pass the Republican controlled Senate. But its fate in the Democrat-controlled House is uncertain. House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has suggested lawmakers wait until next year to consider passing the resolution a second time so they know more about the financial hit schools and local governments may take from the caps.

Proponents say passing the resolution this year would ensure that a referendum on the caps would be held in 2010, and they believe voters would approve putting the caps in the constitution. That would prevent judges from scrapping the caps and make it harder for future legislatures to undo. "The message we will be sending to the public is we really want to do this," said Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville.

The Indiana Chamber of Commerce opposes the caps, saying they create a classified system that treats types of property differently. "It scraps all pretenses of equality," said William Waltz, a lobbyist for the state chamber.