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Finally, the Indiana Legislature is getting serious about property tax reduction for Indiana homeowners.
because nothing says declining property values like dense housing in neighborhoods with larger lots and prior restrictions on denisty, or in-law housing. And if all those buying such homes have kids, the school districts will have more demand, less revenue. Yep, that’s a sure fire formula for educational excellence and increasing Indiana’s position as an attractive location for new business by decreasing educational accomplishment in the community.
Folks, there are neighborhods and areas in Indiana, and Central Indiana, that want to restrict who resides in their community by having expensive housing. And its not always racial…sometimes, they don’t want white liberals in their community of Republican conservatives. And you know what, they’ve earned that privilege. And I’m not even one of them…
Some of those areas restrict the housing because if you leave it up to builders, they will throw in cheap houses that will end up costing the municipalities money.
Also, why exactly is church owned land getting a special carve out?
Timothy, the state funding formula for education is not based on property values anymore. The school districts get dollars for every kid enrolled, so it benefits a district to have more kids.
Then there’s the issue of where do the helpers live? Will the expensive suburbs have places for their teachers, cops, firefighters, EMTs, street workers and snowplow drivers to buy affordable homes?
Joe, recently in the Indy area (and I suspect elsewhere) large church parcels purchased decades ago for future expansion have been repurposed for affordable rental and for-sale housing.
It’s a thing, and can be a way for the churches to sustain themselves…or a way to use the property if a church closes…in a way that a Christian congregation sees as missional and of community benefit.
That’s all well and good, but they can’t go through rezoning to add housing or sell the property if they need cash? The needs of an organization that doesn’t pay any taxes are so important that their neighbors are just supposed to eat the decrease in their property values?
There was a church on the Southside of Indianapolis a few years ago that just flat started building apartments, to the surprise of the neighbors of the church. This feels very much like a law to enable this kind of reckless behavior.
https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/indianapolis/south-side/some-south-side-neighbors-trying-to-stop-church-s-apartment-building-construction
Joe, it’s a popular misconception that affordable housing reduces neighbors’ property values. Studies show otherwise.
In addition, it’s tricky to balance private property rights vs. neighbor “rights”. If I buy a house in a new subdivision with a cornfield or woods adjacent, do I have some “right” to use the zoning process to force that neighbor to keep the land as it is for as long as I say they should?
I think the case you cited might be the very thing the law is aimed at. The pastor made a scriptural argument for the development, and the Legislature is pretty heavy in its support of “free exercise” rights of churches.
If you buy a house in a new subdivision (likely built from a cornfield) and are shocked that the next cornfield over also becomes a subdivision, you aren’t paying attention. You know what you’re in for next to undeveloped property.
If you have a property next to a developed property, like a business or church or school, you also know what you’re in for. If the church wants to pivot and do something else, that’s fine, follow the same process as everyone else when you want to change the use of a property. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
The church in question ended up moving on from that pastor and, like many other churches, fled to Johnson County. It’s now a church of Christian Burmese refugees and they have far more services than the previous congregation was able to manage and better utilize the facility. Kind of a win-win all around.
I don’t buy that “free exercise” is an exemption from churches to opt out of following laws. For instance, many churches have added coffee shops. Those should face the same health code laws as any private business. A religious exemption from properly sanitation of equipment makes no sense. For that matter, the current religious exemptions to staffing ratios at church daycares has proven deadly; a few years ago, a child drowned at a daycare in the baptistery as they had not nearly enough “teachers” for the number of students. That has nothing to do with a religious belief and everything to do with keeping costs low.
Here’s an example – if a private religious high school wanted to build a football stadium and add lights to the property, they should have to seek rezoning permission even though they can claim the Lord is calling them to play football?
Joe, I wondered that very same thing while attending a football game at the Roncalli field in Perry Twp. last fall. The PA was turned up to 11 (i.e. too loud for the stands) and I imagined that it might be an irritant to the neighbors…and started wondering if they had to get zoning approval for the stadium. But the field and bleachers have been there since the 60s and predate the nearest homes.
In the same vein as your comment, Joe, if you buy next to a “developed” parcel that has one building and an acre of parking on 5 or 10 acres of land, I think it’s unreasonable to expect that it will remain in that state forever.
And again…do you have a right to dictate that neighboring property owner’s use of the property (as long as it’s not noxious or physically harmful)?
I know when Cathedral HS moved to the northside of Indianapolis in the 1970’s, the neighbors obtained a permanent injunction against lights. Because they are a religious high school, should they be able to overturn that injunction because of their free exercise rights?
I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect things will never change. But we have processes for changes for a reason, and I think that’s being forgotten because someone wants to make a quick buck.
If my neighbor wants to demolish his house and build an apartment building, he doesn’t get to say “my land, pound sand”. He has to go get approvals to do that, with a remonstration process available. But if my neighbor says he has a house church that owns the house, and wants to do the same thing, I don’t see anything in this law that would stop him.
To the example I referenced, the pastor didn’t even bother to give his neighbors a heads-up. The neighbors found out the work was taking place when the bulldozers showed up to start grading the land.
Joe, in the collar counties, most jurisdictions that I’ve checked allow religious institutions on land otherwise zoned residential. With regard to a specific church in Fishers and one in Avon that I’ve looked at, both parcels are zoned residential, but single family.
Only in Marion County is there special use zoning for religious institutions that may require a change for housing that isn’t church related (like a home for priests, nuns, or a parsonage for a pastor and his family). So this part of the law may in fact be aimed at Indy.
actually, Chris, state funding for education K-12 is about 58% of the tab. The rest is state and federal. about 12% is federal, though I suspect that number is now decling. So, about 30% of the cost of local education is borne by local taxpayers, historically through property taxes.
Look around any of the communites…there exist lower value homes. Probably not enough. But as a friend of mine who is a lawyer in New York City once commented, there isn’t a shortage of paralegals in any city. There’s a shortage of paralegals willing to work the job at less than $20 per hour. If getting snow plow drivers and teachers and such in your community is important, a way will be found to pay for them. If not, the positions won’t be filled. Eventually, the market catches up…or housing and schools are developed in the next town over. Westfield, Noblesville, Sheridan, even Fishers, were the “low income” housing for Carmel and Indy. Then more expensive housing was built for higher income folks in these towns, and the lower income moved out further. Or back to Indy.
An easier solution might be public transport…commuter rail lines between Indy, Fishers, Carmel, Noblesville, Westfiled. THe tracks used to be there…
Why do churches and other not-for-profits remain exempt from paying property taxes? They receive the benefit of police and fire protection and response so they should contribute to those services. Not only might it reduce others’ taxes especially middle to lower income but it requires them paying their fair share. A study calculating all exempt property would be most revealing.
I don’t think the Indiana Legislature will touch this one. Maybe big “nonprofit” hospitals, but definitely not churches.
100% agree, or if you wanted to offer tax breaks, it should only be on the facility space, not the extra 30 acres they acquired. Private schools, religious institutions, non-profits not supporting by tax dollars.
In the US, with it’s poor social safety net, this is a benefit given to churches and other not-for-profits like hospitals, with the expectation that these institutions will provide needed services better than the government ever could, and that the donations, grants, and profits will trickle into the community distributed in a manner better and more targeted than the government (and with less fraud and waste) ever could. I don’t discount the good that some of these organizations do, but I think it’s just rationalization to make up for the dismal state of healthcore and the poor social safety net.
There is a second more believable reason to give hospitals a tax break, and that is having a hospital in a community improves the quality of life and is an asset to the community as a whole.
Most shocking of all, is that it isn’t specifically written to apply only to Indy.
My assumption that is that the target audience is the unincorporated areas of the donut counties. This will force a lot of counties to take on residential areas they aren’t really well-suited to manage.
So a builder could buy a property in Carmel and build whatever they want with no architectural or height restrictions? WTF? One way to reduce housing cost would be to eliminate SWPPP (all the miles of silt fence on worksites). The guidelines were drawn up in a cubicle in Washington and are extremely onerous to home construction. Most importantly, SWPPP requirements do NOT benefit the environment in ANY WAY!!! A builder has to spend 10% of the cost of lot construction trying to keep every molecule of dirt from eroding while the farmer on the ADJOINING PARCEL plows his field every year. INSANITY!!!!!
Another politician developing and pushing legislation for their own personal benefit…
From the Indiana House Republicans website:
“During the mid-1970s, Miller began his career as a homebuilder, working for a family owned company until he was able to go into business for himself. He owns Creekside Realty, LLC and White Pines Properties, LLC.“
I have noticed that in dense housing developments if a house fire occurs several houses get fire and heat damaged . Because houses are too close together and siding materials are flammable vinyl . Increasing the annual cost of home owners insurance . Also lack of enough parking space makes for car cluttered streets that impede access by emergency service vehicles . Don’t put developer profits above long term community safety ..
Most cities that have been around long enough have experienced devastating fires. (ie The Great Chicago Fire). This ia a fact of cities. There are easy work-arounds, but they often cost more, like brick construction and fire rated doors and windows.
I suspect that climate change will soon force the US to stop building non-fireproof buildings even in places like the mid-west. Look at the fire that ripped though a Denver suburb last year. That seemed like a pretty low risk for wide spread wild fires, but a strak of dry weather with high winds proved otherwise.
The legislature did not come up with this on their own, follow the money to homebuilders and you have your answer for the reasons behind this bill. It is obviouse that rules tie their hands and the builders want the freedom to build what they want where they want without any silly rules or local interference. Once again, it is all about the $$$’s and proving we have the best poiticians money can buy.
EXACTLY. And let’s not be cute about motives: large-plat homebuilders want less hassle, less permitting time, and little or no zoning.
‘Twas always such.
Who foots the bill for infrastructure development in these unincorporated area when builders want to place a hundred homes on twenty acres?
Builders and developers, and ultimately the homebuyers.
Worst piece of legislation out of the Indiana super majority in a long time. Another example of the GOP’s total collapse as a party that was for small government, limited govenment overreach and a view that communites know what is best for themselves.