Porter: “We have to provide property tax relief without defunding local governments”
Today (June 18) the State and Local Tax Review Task Force (SALTR) met to discuss property tax rates and revenue before the closeout of fiscal year 2024. State Rep. Gregory W. Porter (D-Indianapolis), a member of SALTR, released the following statement:
“Today, we had a fruitful discussion thanks to testimony from local officials. The organizations that testified today clearly explained that the ongoing, inflationary spike in property taxes is not sustainable. Our Hoosier seniors on fixed incomes are drowning from increased property taxes. But like my comments after our April meeting, we cannot solve the untenable rise in property taxes by restricting revenue to our local governments.
“Our local governments rely on property tax revenue to fund their schools, infrastructure and public projects. We can’t cut their revenue without cutting local services. Potholes won’t be filled, and school boards may be forced to evaluate how many teachers they can afford to employ. That’s what happens when our schools and local governments do not have adequate funding.
“School officials shared in testimony that they simply don’t have the revenue to pay for essential items – including school bus transportation, utilities, and insurance. The majority has continued to stretch their pocketbooks thin with legislation like HEA 1499 (2023). They restricted the school property tax maximization which failed to provide any real property tax relief for Hoosier taxpayers.
“I cannot stress enough that we must balance the solution to high property taxes between all parties. Next year during the budget session we could create concrete property tax relief. For the last two years, House Democrats have introduced legislation for a homestead credit which provides support by putting money in Hoosier pockets. Hopefully, my colleagues across the aisle will listen to their constituencies that are begging for help with their property tax bills in the 2025 session.”