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JANUARY 10, 2025
As we head into the 2025 Legislative Session, we are excited to introduce you to members of the Aim Legislative Team. There are two new faces, along with a few familiar ones, who will be working closely with you to support and advance Indiana local governments. After learning more about the team, please scroll further down in this email to read today’s Legislative Summary!
For decades Aim has been working with the Indiana General Assembly on accelerating cities and towns, and we expect this year to be no different. Our team looks forward to partnering with you and legislators on initiatives that align with our shared goals and being a resource to answer questions, share data, and facilitate conversations between our organization and the legislature.
The Big Issues
PROPERTY TAX REFORM
- Rising property values driven by the post-COVID inflation and housing boom led to rising property tax assessments and tax bills in some areas. Legislative leaders have worked over the last two sessions to reform the property tax system as a response.
- The State and Local Tax Review Taskforce met for the past two years focusing on property tax reform. The final report recommended reforming the Maximum Levy Growth Quotient (MLGQ), the Local Income Tax (LIT) system, removing the Business Personal Property Tax (BPPT) depreciation floor, and reforming the agricultural base rate. The legislators leading this discussion plan to address each of these topics in legislation during the 2025 session. Legislation in the 2025 session will address all these issues and will be rolling out in the coming weeks.
- Governor Braun made property tax reform a cornerstone of his election campaign. His property tax proposal focuses on increasing the homestead deductions, adding a new property tax cap on the growth of tax bills, and reforming the operating referendum statutes.
- Aim is actively engaged in all of these conversations and continues to prioritize the preservation and diversification of local revenue streams that fund essential public services.
ROAD FUNDING
- The post-COVID inflation and construction cost growth, combined with rising vehicle fuel efficiency, has eroded the purchasing power of the 2017 road funding plan. Significant gaps in necessary road funding, both on the state and local level, were presented to the FIRSST (Funding Indiana’s Roads for a Stronger, Safer Tomorrow) Task Force, which met over the past two years.
- The FIRSST Task Force recommended looking at new revenue sources for road funding that are not limited to the traditional approach of raising gas taxes. Aim will continue to advocate for revenue sharing to local governments with any new revenue sources that are proposed similar to how gas tax money is currently distributed.
- Legislative leadership is also focused on reforming the Community Crossings program and encouraging local governments to adopt wheel and vehicle excise taxes to fill local road funding gaps. We anticipate legislation to be introduced tying Community Crossings funding to wheel and excise tax adoption.
RIGHT TO FOOD
- SB 14, authored by Senator Doriot (R-Goshen), provides a right to grow and consume food on one’s own property and limits the ability of local governments to exercise planning and zoning authority over activity on residential parcels that produce food, such as gardening or raising chickens.
- Aim opposes SB 14 in its introduced form, due to the ambiguity and uncertainty it would create over what activities locals could prohibit in their zoning ordinances. Aim is working with the bill author to clarify the intent of the bill and have it apply only to gardens, ensuring they are still subject to size, location, and setback requirements.
- SB 14 was scheduled to be heard in the Senate Local Government committee this Thursday but was removed from the calendar so that a substantial amendment can be prepared to address these concerns.
AIM OPERATIONAL INITIATIVES
- Every year, Aim solicits information from our members about opportunities to author legislation improving municipalities. Aim is spearheading two bills this session, as stated below:
- Designated Outdoor Refreshment Areas (DORAs): Aim is proposing two adjustments to the DORA statute. The first would exclude private residences from the DORA requirements so that apartments in mixed-use developments are not affected. The second would allow DORA maps to be drawn without a permanent bar or restaurant in the district for events like festivals or concerts without bars or restaurants nearby.
- Mobile and Manufactured Homes: Aim is proposing several fixes to the zoning statutes around mobile and manufactured homes, clarifying municipal authority to enforce design standards and permitting with respect to these structures. The language also provides new tools ensuring that delinquent water bills from mobile home park owners are addressed without requiring water to be shut off to all residents of the mobile home park.
PUBLIC NOTICES
- Aim has supported the modernization of the publication of required public notices for many years with many positive developments in the past few years that allow for more electronic publication of notices, lowering cost and increasing the accessibility of the notices to the public.
- HB 1312, authored by Rep. Jennifer Meltzer (R-Shelbyville), creates a state portal for publishing public notices and allows the option for municipalities to post notices on the portal free of charge.
- Aim supports this bill and others that reduces publishing costs and increases efficiency within municipalities.
MARKET STREET TO MAIN STREET LEGISLATIVE PODCAST
Listen to more about this week on the first episode of the 2025 Market Street to Main Street Podcast Series, Aim’s legislative episodes of the Hometown Innovations Podcast and a supplement to this e-newsletter. In this episode, Jennifer is joined by Aim’s Legislative Team. Get to know Amy Krieg, Isabel Elliott, and Campbell Ricci while we learn more about what to expect this session.
To listen to Market Street to Main Street, please visit The Terminal post and click the “play button” on the audio player. Or you can subscribe to Aim Hometown Innovations Podcast on Podbean, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.
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