As property tax bills hit mailboxes starting this week, with Marion County valuations up an average of 18.9% from last year, Democrat State Rep. Ed DeLaney says it is clear that Indiana’s property tax system is in need of reform.

The Democrat says he wants homeowners to understand the nature of the problem and be apprised of potential solutions.

“Some homeowners have experienced a dramatic increase in assessed value, and thus their bill may be historically high this year,” DeLaney said. “Put simply, our 1% property tax cap and overall property tax system is showing its age. It is unable to weather upswings in valuation as we’ve seen this year or, I suspect, downswings. This is not sustainable for our homeowners, public schools or local government.”

DeLaney pointed to a set of problems with the system, including:

  1. 2007 property tax reform and resulting system is not responsive enough to keep up with a changing market, as shown by the post-pandemic housing market volatility
  2. The system has left schools in need of seeking referenda to make up for gaps in funding for operations, capital projects and debt paydown
  3. Indiana’s number and variety of different local government units, which are ultimately competing for the same property tax dollar

“The problems with the system become apparent when you look at how the supermajority has had to jury-rig it,” DeLaney added. “For example, Republican legislators added a new ‘operations fund’ to our school funding formula this year using income tax revenue to help areas of the state with lower property values and thus lower property tax revenue for schools. A functioning tax system would not require that, nor would it force schools to resort to referenda to seek funding.”

Below are the average residential property taax increases in Marion County by township.

  • Center – 29 percent
  • Pike – 21 percent
  • Washington – 24 percent
  • Wayne – 24 percent
  • Perry – 19 percent
  • Decatur – 20 percent
  • Franklin – 20 percent
  • Warren – 19 percent
  • Lawrence – 18 percent

You can hear DeLaney in the Leon-Tailored Audio above.   It runs for about 20 minutes.