Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith on Saturday called on Gov. Mike Braun to veto a bill that would make major changes to Indiana’s property tax system and said the governor needs to call for a special legislative session to find a better plan.
Senate Bill 1, which has undergone several major overhauls since it was introduced, was approved by members of the House last week after the latest round of edits. Under the newly amended bill, two-thirds of Hoosier homeowners will see cheaper property tax bills in 2026 than in 2025. The proposal is expected to provide $1.4 billion in property relief over three years.
SB 1 is awaiting a final nod from the Senate before it heads to the governor’s desk. Braun has already endorsed the latest version of the bill and is expected to sign it.
But his lieutenant governor has other ideas.
“I’ve been on the phone ALL DAY with Hoosiers and government officials alike talking about the SB1 Property Tax Bill that the legislature is sending to the Governor,” Beckwith posted Saturday on his official X account (formerly Twitter). “NOBODY understands this thing … including me! On that basis alone we can’t let this become law.
“The Gov needs to VETO this thing, call a special session and demand the legislature pass something that the average Hoosier can understand without hiring army of lawyers and accountants!!”
The governor and legislative leaders have for weeks gone back and forth on SB 1’s contents. The bill has gone through two major “strip-and-insert” revisions since it was introduced in January.
The most recent version of the SB 1, which was approved by the House last week and was sent back to the Senate for concurrence, includes a 10% tax credit for all homeowners, including those that hit the state’s 1% tax cap.
For example, if a home’s assessed value is $400,000, the new $300 tax credit and the 1% tax cap would mean a homeowner would not pay more than $3,700. (That number may fluctuate slightly depending on other tax credits or additional tax rates approved by voters at a municipal level.) The bill would also raise the cost threshold of the business personal property tax exemption to $1 million in 2026 and $2 million in 2027. It currently sits at $80,000.
The potential property tax revenue in Indiana’s 92 counties over the next three years is expected to be reduced by more than $1 billion under the plan.
Critics of the bill say local governments will raise income taxes to make up the difference. Rep. Ed DeLaney, D-Indianapolis, said the bill would allow local governments to raise income taxes by three times more than the amount homeowners would save in property taxes.
After weeks of back-and-forth with lawmakers, Braun endorsed the bill in a Thursday social media post and called on the Senate to act quickly.
“SB1 offers meaningful tax relief for Hoosiers. The plan to CUT, CAP, and REFORM means relief now and systemic changes for the future to protect taxpayers,” Braun posted on X. “Thank you to the House for their hard work and I look forward to the Senate sending this to my desk for signature next week!”
In February, Braun threatened to veto SB 1 after major edits pared back some of the more ambitious pieces of his plan.
If Braun were to veto a bill, the General Assembly could override his decision with a simple majority vote in both the House and Senate.
The governor has the power to call a special session if “public welfare shall require it,” according to Indiana Code. Braun could call back lawmakers for a maximum of 40 days outside the typical session calendar to pass property tax legislation.
Indiana’s last special legislative session was in 2022 when former Gov. Eric Holcomb asked legislators to address abortion after a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturned Roe v. Wade. Since 1970, Indiana governors have called 14 special sessions, nine of which have been to finish the biennial budget, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
They understand that it gives the fiscally “conservative” municipal elected Republicans a chance to jack up income taxes.
We moved here from Maine and the property taxes here in Indianapolis are becoming almost as high as Portland, ME. This doesn’t make any sense. Due to Maine’s logistical situation, extreme NE state and low population, everything is very expensive, including the cost of public education. Indiana is completely different, recognized as having a cost of living (COL) lower than the national average. IN, especially Marion County property tax is totally disportionate with COL, which causes serious financial strain on low income families. This has to be corrected!
Indiana is ranked as having the 14th most favorable tax rate (9.3%) compared to Maine at 41st (12.4%). Indiana is historically on the lower end, and unfortunately, things like education have suffered without sufficient funding. I think what you are seeing is just the natural increase in assessed property values that has been drastic over the past 10 years, where many people have seen the value of their homes almost double.
https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/tax-burden-by-state-2022/
Interesting they are giving a very large tax break to businesses by increasing the personal property tax exemption for business from $80,000 to $1,000,000 then $2,000,000. Wonder why?????
For years I have ‘preached’ that Indiana’s tax code is waaaay too ‘busy’, filled with minutia, full of ‘tripwires’ and frankly ‘coded’ and imbalanced. Yes, Braun needs to veto it in its present form. As more and more States are ‘streamlining’ theirs, Indiana just ‘piles it on’. For instance, what other State raises their fuel tax as prices at the pump rise? Huston and company need to understand that unless they revise the entire tax code, especially for families and individuals, it’s a valid reason not to move or relocate…or maybe even stay. Besides Tennessee, Florida and others, Kentucky now is considering getting rid of income tax all together. Wake up!
Amen to all 4 respondents above. And how about the logic of these so-called law makers……….decrease one tax (property) causing another tax (income) to increase. Illogical and wasting lots of so-called law-making time. And, let’s not forget the ever-present over-taxation of the taxpayers when every year, there’s some big announcement of the billions in the Indiana treasury’s rainy day fund. Another fiscal mismanagement on the part of them…………..those so called law makers. Forget them and hire an honest (?????) accounting firm to run the numbers. And while they’re at it, we need an entire new team to run the IURC!!!!!!
Swapping the source of funding *may be* okay and even appropriate. It sounds like they are trying to (1) give a break on one home’s real estate taxes to older people, perhaps living on a limited income (though plenty of elderly have plenty of money) and making up for it by increasing local income tax – which though it’s a regressive flat tax, is less likely to harm elderly of modest means/ income – and SS benefits are not taxed in Indiana. Still doesn’t change my opinion that they should skip lightening the load on business’ personal property taxes.
Let’s face it: capping property taxes is anti-free market. And it’s Republicans who are doing it. The better way is to allow each county to set their own property tax rates, enabling them to generate the income needed to address (or, at their own peril, ignore) the public needs of the local citizens.
Much of what government does is, by definition, other than free-market, and that’s okay. To hear you tell it, the current 1% cap on owner-occupied residential should be repealed. Good luck with that. Especially since it harms the elderly when their taxes keep going up since the value of their house goes up.
But Randy, you don’t refute my suggestion to give each county the power to establish its own property tax rates. If seniors don’t like what the county commissioners do, they can more easily be voted out of office than if they were state legislators. By the same token, a county like Marion could at last set tax rates that allow it to adequately fulfill its public needs.
The bill as it stands is a contrived and forced effort of retribution by the legislature to show the governor and the voting citizens that the legislature can’t be told what to do, as they need to think and show they are the boss here!
Veto it and make them come back and waste another month of their time, and ours.
I love a good Republican food fight
I liked it better when I saw it the first time and it was called the “ Upper Class Twit of the Year”.
Property taxes are the only real taxes based on wealth. Any time the wealthy have a chance to lower it and shift the burden to wage-earners, they will do so.
Nobody understood the prior property assessment either.