[The Directors of Hoosier Access are pleased to have Lt. Governor Becky Skillman, who is giving us this exclusive, to give us her view on the current situation with the property legislation in the legislature.]

Property Tax Legislation Must Be Immediate and Permanent

By Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman

This week, Senate and House Republicans came together to outline their joint proposal for property tax reform, a plan that goes a long way towards providing Hoosier taxpayers immediate and permanent relief. Throughout the session, Governor Daniels has been accepting of modifications to his property tax proposal. He does, however, insist that the four basic pillars of the plan – immediate relief, permanent protection, assessment reform and local spending control – remain in place in the final version. The Republicans have maintained these must-haves.

The version of tax reform put forth by the two Republican caucuses reflects several concessions to Democrat members. The Governor has agreed to these compromises in order to provide the best solution possible to all Hoosiers. He has agreed to phase in the circuit breaker caps, raising the earned income tax credit, increasing the renters deduction, just to name a few. That said, the Governor and I expect the same cooperation from Democrats in both chambers.

As a former legislator myself, I am confident that all 150 legislators would prefer to pass a lasting and permanent property tax package now instead of going back year after year – as they have been doing – to tweak the law. While the Republican compromise plan is not anyone’s first choice, it is certainly better than status quo. And like the Governor has said, anyone who can’t agree on this plan is not ready to protect Hoosier homeowners.