FEBRUARY 7, 2025

On Tuesday, February 11, we are expecting SB1 (Governor Braun’s property tax plan) to be amended significantly in the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee. In addition to reaching out to your own state Senator before Tuesday, please send an email to the senators on the Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee and make sure they understand how SB1, in its current form, would impact your community.
It’s very important to explain the percentage of your community’s revenue derived from property taxes and cite specific examples where cuts would be made in your communications (i.e., fewer number of roads paved, impact on vehicle fleets, park maintenance, public safety, etc.).

You can find talking points and other relevant information at aimindiana.org/rde. After you connect with your Senator and those on the committee, please let us know how they responded. In addition, we have more a few other requests to help us let the General Assembly know the impact of SB 1 and the other property tax bills.

  • View the talking points to understand and communicate key concerns.
  • Complete the request for information form to help us demonstrate how municipal governments allocate property tax dollars and how revenue loss would negatively impact public services. Return the form as soon as possible to Kyle Lubelski at klubelski@aimindiana.org.
  • Consider passing a resolution with your governing body to oppose property tax reductions without a sustainable replacement. Sample resolutions are available. If approved, please send your resolution to Erin Jamison-Koenig at ejamisonkoenig@gmail.com.

The Big Issues

PROPERTY TAX REFORM

  • SB 1, the bill containing Governor Braun’s property tax reform package, was heard in the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee on Tuesday.
  • If passed as currently written, SB 1 would greatly increase the homestead deduction to over 60% and place new tax caps on the growth of all tax bills between 2% and 3% per year depending on the property and taxpayer type.
  • LSA estimates a fiscal impact of up to $1.6 billion annually in the first two years alone, expecting significant growth over time as all tax bill growth is capped into the indefinite future.
  • Aim opposes this legislation because of the significant fiscal impact it would have on the largest revenue source for the general fund of all of local government. It also would have significant impact on the way the property tax system functions, making debt service, TIF, fire protection, and many other local property tax mechanisms no longer function as intended by their current statutes.
  • SB 1, authored by Sen. Travis Holdman (R-Markle), will be heard in committee for amendment and vote next Tuesday, without additional testimony. We strongly encourage our members to reach out to their local legislators and the members of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee to express concern about the proposed budget cuts.

ANNEXATION

  • Several annexation bills were heard in the House Local Government Committee on Tuesday. HB 1472 and HB 1473 were designed to fix specific problems in Hendricks County but point to larger weaknesses in the annexation statute that cannot easily close small holes of unincorporated areas inside of municipalities and cannot easily complete non-contiguous annexations for housing and economic development. Aim testified in support of both of these bills.
  • On another hand, Aim testified in opposition to HB 1362, which proposes voiding existing remonstrance waivers and requiring municipally initiated annexations to be affirmatively approved by 65% of affected property owners, flipping the current process on its head where currently 65% of affected property owners must remonstrate to automatically block an annexation.
  • These three annexation bills have ignited a robust discussion around annexation reform with the committee and Aim is working with the committee and the bill authors to ensure the annexation code is improved without making the already lengthy process even more difficult and onerous to complete.
  • HB 1472 and HB 1473, authored by Rep. Greg Steuerwald (R-Avon), passed out of the House Local Government Committee unanimously on Tuesday. HB 1362, authored by Rep. Dave Hall (R-Norman), was held for amendment and vote next week.

MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS

  • SB 355, authored by Sen. Gaskill (R-Anderson), would move all municipal elections to the presidential election cycle. It would allow municipalities to opt out of this change if the council approves the opt-out and it succeeds at referendum. HB 1633, authored by Rep. Smaltz (R-Auburn), would accomplish the same goal without the option to opt-out.
  • Aim opposes these bills as the current municipal election cycle ensures that local issues stay front-and-center when mayors, clerks, and council members are up for election. Moving the elections to the presidential cycles would drown out local issues in the minds of voters and force municipal officials to spend most of their time talking about national partisan issues instead of the issues that they would have jurisdiction over and matter most to their communities.
  • SB 355 is eligible for second reading in the Senate, but has not yet moved forward, due to several proposed amendments and internal conversations amongst leadership. HB 1633 was amended on the floor of the House to remove the provisions moving municipal elections and instead encourages the Secretary of State to conduct a study on the possible benefits of moving municipal elections to the presidential year. HB 1633 then passed the House unanimously.

MOBILE INTEGRATED HEALTH

  • Mobile integrated health programs allow EMS services to provide non-emergency wraparound services, especially to the elderly and those who have been recently discharged from the hospital. This reduces readmittance to hospitals and emergency rooms and improves the health of communities.
  • HB 1587 includes language that allows EMS providers to be reimbursed by private insurance for mobile integrated health services which will make the programs more financially viable and self-sufficient moving forward.
  • HB 1587, authored by Rep. Martin Carbaugh (R-Fort Wayne), passed the House Insurance Committee last Tuesday with a vote of 9-2.

PUBLIC NOTICES

  • HB 1312 would allow local units to post required public notices to a state-run, searchable website instead of requiring them to publish these notices with a locally circulating newspaper.
  • Aim has long supported modernizing the public notice system due in part to the cost associated with publishing notices in newspapers but also the fact that newspaper publication schedules are sometimes challenging to align with notice schedules. This often leads to meetings or hearings being delayed in order to comply with current public notice requirements.
  • HB 1312, authored by Rep. Jennifer Meltzer (R-Shelbyville), passed the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee on Monday with a vote of 11-0.
 

MARKET STREET TO MAIN STREET LEGISLATIVE PODCAST

Listen to more about this week on the fourth 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 chats with Amy Krieg, Isabel Elliott, and Campbell Ricci about how the Legislative Dinner, the current status of Senate Bill 1, and a welfare check on the team.

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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