Porter introduces ‘Back to the Basics’ property tax plan
Today, March 26, House Ways and Means Ranking Democrat State Rep. Gregory W. Porter (D-Indianapolis) shared his plan for property tax relief. Porter filed 11 amendments to Senate Bill 1, which he will present when the bill is scheduled for a vote in committee.
“We have $2.6 billion in taxpayer dollars in our reserves,” Porter said. “We saved this money for a rainy day, but the weather can’t get worse for homeowners. Indiana has roughly 1.9 million homesteads. We could give every homestead $500, and we would still have well over $1 billion saved. The state can afford immediate relief. My amendments provide real relief to Hoosier homeowners while protecting public schools, fire, EMS and more.”
The amendments center on two priorities: directing property tax relief to homeowners instead of big businesses, which receive the most relief in SB 1 and House Bill 1402, and sharing the responsibility of relief between the state and local units. The majority’s proposals would vastly reduce local government services by slashing their revenue. Republican plans encourage the local units to raise their local income tax rate (LIT), still burdening taxpayers with a different tax. These 11 amendments rebalance the funding burden between the state and local units while individually addressing the needs of homeowners.
The 11 amendments are below:
Amendment 27: Continues the homestead supplemental deduction, which has provided significant savings to homeowners. Alleviates the burden on local units by creating an additional tier for markedly high-assessed-value homesteads.
Amendment 28: Provides additional relief to renters by increasing the renter's deduction from $3,000 to $5,000. Encourages landowners to pass on property tax savings to their renters.
Amendment 29: Creates the business share fee that’s 10% of the corporation tax rate to recapture money lost from corporate income tax breaks. Indiana is estimated to lose $6 billion by 2030. The business share fee would fund the first-time homebuyer down payment grant program with award grants of $25,000.
Amendment 30: Saves money for our seniors by changing the Over 65 Circuit Breaker Tax Credit from 2% to 1%. Senior bills would be capped at a 1% increase each year.
Amendment 33: Creates the home ownership expenses homestead credit for each homeowner to offset the rising cost of utilities and home insurance.
Amendment 36: Instead of freezing or providing a sub-inflation increase for the Maximum Levy Growth Quotient (MLGQ), the percentage cap for the MLGQ would be set at 2.75% over the next three years. This means local governments would have an increase on par with inflation, ensuring they have a reliable source of revenue.
Amendment 37: Alternate version of amendment 36, which sets the percentage cap for the MLGQ at 3% over the next three years.
Amendment: Creates the state homestead credit totaling $400 million each year. The money would be sourced from the General Fund.
Amendment: Revives the property tax replacement credit (PTRC), renaming it the Levy Buy Down. The Levy Buy Down requires the state to pay 20% of the property tax burden for school transportation costs and 10% of public safety costs.
Amendment: Provides a state-funded homestead property tax freeze for veterans if they have a moderate to severe service-related disability.
Amendment: Raises the amount school corporations can transfer from their education fund to operations fund, and vice versa, from 15% to 30%. This would free up funds to pay for day-to-day operations. including insurance, buses and computers.
“Republicans created this problem, and they don’t know how to solve it,” Porter said. “Twenty years ago, we had a PTRC, which covered 20% of local property tax operations. Homeowners' taxes stayed low since the state paid 20 cents of every dollar, and we provided a homestead credit. Then they eliminated both credits, which pulled the rug out from under local governments. Now, the state doesn’t help our local units, shifting the cost to homeowners.
“Statehouse Republicans don’t want to pay, but they don’t want corporations to pay either. In every plan they’ve proposed, corporations get a handout instead of homeowners getting a hand up. Homeowners have been paying for a larger slice of the property tax pie. In 2024, Marion County homeowners paid 58% of property tax collections while commercial properties paid roughly 42%. It’s time we get back to the basics and rebalance the funding burden for services between corporations, local units and the state.”