Bet you never thought you’d see the day that Speaker Pat “The Hair” Bauer loosened his iron fist enough to let the property tax caps pass out of the House.

It probably would have been the lead story in state politics, were it not for events down south (which got much more attention, at least in these parts).

From the Indy Star:

Lawmakers in the Indiana House voted this afternoon to place property-tax caps into the state constitution.

The 75-23 vote by the Democrat-controlled House was viewed as the most difficult legislative hurdle left to making the tax limits permanent in Indiana’s founding document.

Now, a vote before the Republican-controlled Senate is the only remaining step before voters would have the final say in the November election.

(Read more after the leap)

The guys over at Frugal Hoosiers have written a great post on the continuing obstruction to Indiana’s economic bowel that is Pat Bauer.  Remember, this is the guy who passed through the House, on a party line vote, a budget that only covers Indiana for one year.  His budget didn’t even cover funding for child care or education.  He’s also kicked government consolidation to the curb and so far, is pushing off property tax caps until the next session saying we need a year to see how it all plays out.

Frankly, I don’t think I need to remind our savvy HA readers that the first half of any two party legislative session is dedicated to the budget.  That’s why it’s longer than the short session.  But “The Hair” wants to revisit the budget again next year for year two of the Democrats budget.  This is also the same guy who said that “Major Moves” was too big to consider in a short session back in 2006!

Via FH via a 2006 Mike Smith AP article:

House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, said he opposed higher fees Daniels plans to impose on his own next spring on the Indiana Toll Road. He also questioned whether the rest of the governor’s highway plan had “enough meat that we would want to spend a lot of time on it.”

As for an “aggressive” session on other initiatives by Daniels and majority Republicans, Bauer said he would have see them in detail first. Short sessions, he said, were supposed to be for dealing with emergencies.

So, Major Moves was too much for Bauer in 2006, but doing another budget, voting on tax caps (which he supported in 2008 (oh wait, that was an election year) while Government Reform is pursued again (the Governor, rightfully, won’t let it die so easily) will be simple enough to handle in a three month (not even that) short session?  Does Bauer have his piece on too tight?

Last year on Porter County Politics, I featured a series of articles written by former Porter Township Trustee and outspoken advocate for local government reform in Indiana, Bob Wichlinski. I’ve asked the northwest indiana site 219.com for current links to those articles so you can all get a refresher.

Today I came across Bob’s most recent essay entitled Hoosier Dreams Trended Away, which reflects on a very current controversy in Porter County right now. Some quotes and a recommendation that you read the whole article:

If you own property in Porter County you undoubtedly received the installment bill of your 2007 taxes payable in 2008. You may have noticed a dramatic spike in assessed value on your tax bill. If you only paid attention to the decrease in the amount you owed, go back and dig up the bill and note the top line “assessed valuation” and note any increase. That number will be increasingly important because it is upon THAT number that your tax caps will be computed in the future. A great many taxpaying citizens believe their 2007 taxes went down because of tax caps. NOT TRUE. They primarily went down because of the increased homestead credit granted by the State legislature when they discovered their new “market-based property valuation featuring trending” was flawed. The homestead credit is scheduled to be phased out in favor of tax caps.

He makes a great point, the tax caps aren’t even in effect yet. They will affect the next set of property tax bills, not the ill-fated and very overdue ones we just got a year late last month.

“You read it here first the use of trending or neighborhood factors to calculate assessed value is tantamount to ECONOMIC RED-LINING. Trending and neighborhood factoring is unlawful. We outlawed red-lining for any purpose. What infuriates me most is that while Rome burns, the county elected officials responsible for this system – good or bad – have demonstrated their inability or unwillingness to acknowledge the problem, embrace it, and FIX IT They know it’s broken … They look you in the eye and utter, “it’s the DLGF’s fault, we’re only doing what we’re told.” I THOUGHT you were an elected official”

By now, you’re probably noticing the count down clock on the right on several conservative blogs all across the state.  It’s the very same clock the Indiana House Republicans are using against Pat “The Hair” Bauer and House Democrats on their insistence to deny property tax payers permanent relief.  Does that surprise you?  This is the same group that decided to pass, in a partisan vote, a one year budget proposal that was devoid of funding for education and child welfare, typically seen as Democrat issues.  They also kicked township consolidation to the curb, because we all know that townships have been brilliant with taxpayer money over the years.

But there is one thing left “The Hair” and his merry Democrats could do, especially in these turbulent economic times.  And that’s push for final passage of the Constitutional Amendment to cap property taxes.  Remember when Bauer wouldn’t let anything else be discussed last year because property taxes were the issue du jour?  Well, now it’s the economy and property taxes are directly tied into the economy.

So call Pat Bauer and the House Democrats and tell them that it’s time to act!  1-800-382-9842 or 317-232-9600

“This clock, ticking away, along with the actions of the House Democrat majority are graphic reminders of how much Hoosier taxpayers really mean to them. Each number flipping over is time lost toward keeping the promise representatives of both parties made last year when they voted for the constitutional caps. – House Republican Leader Brian Bosma

By: Brian Sikma

What happens when you put a group of interested and engaged citizens in a room with a panel of property tax experts?  A lively discussion ensues with both sides walking away a little more informed than when the event started.  That was the case on Saturday morning when the St. Joseph County GOP headquarters was turned into a sort of local think-tank with a large crowd of interested citizens asking tough questions and offering intriguing insights into one side of the property tax debate while a panel of experts offered up their perspective of the situation.

The diverse panel was made up of Mayor Jeff Rea of Mishawaka, economist Josh Barro of the Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C., state Senator Joe Zakas of Granger, and Juan Manigault representing the South Bend Integrity PAC.  Chris Riley, the St. Joseph County GOP Chairman, served as the able moderator who provided thought provoking questions to start off the morning and kept the discussion on track as the panelists and audience interacted with each other.

Senator Zakas pointed out that property taxes went down by an average of 30% across the state after the passage of HB 1001 in 2008, the bill that included the so-called 1,2,3 plan.  This plan caps residential property taxes at 1% of assessed value, rental property and agricultural property at 2% of assessed value, and commercial and business property at 3% of assessed value.  Debate in the General Assembly this year is expected to include a discussion about placing the tax caps in the state Constitution as a way of protecting taxpayers and landowners against future increases.

(Read more below the fold)

When you’re a Democrat congressman just tapped by That One to be his Chief of Staff, one does not worry about IRS audits for abuse of the home based business laws.

However, Illinois Review shows Emanuel and Amy Rule own a home in Chicago, claim their entire home as the headquarters of a non-profit of which they operate and are the sole contributors. One of the few recipients of the charity’s funds is the private school which their children attend. Funneling the funds through this charity front, Emanuel and his partner are avoiding anywhere from $3500 to over $7000 per year in Cook County property taxes.

On top of that could the soon to be White House Chief of Staff be taking IRS business deductions illegally which others were prosecuted for abusing the deductions for “home based businesses”?

Hoosier Access would like to thank Lt. Gov. Skillman for answering another question in our “Ask Becky!” series. Here’s question #3.

“We have started to see several counties receive their property tax bills. Do you think Hoosiers are pleased with what they have seen — both homeowners and businesses?”

Governor Daniels spoke to a the Indianapolis Rotary Club yesterday and announced his “Taxpayer Protection Agenda” which is a two-step proposal which is to further strengthen Indiana’s protection of taxpayers.

In short this is what he’s proposing:

First, the governor called for final legislative passage of a constitutional amendment to make permanent the caps on property taxes contained in the landmark tax cut bill approved during the 2008 session of the Indiana General Assembly.

The second proposal, the Automatic Taxpayer Refund, would ensure that any tax revenues beyond those needed to maintain a balanced budget and adequate rainy day reserves be sent back to taxpayers in the form of a refund.

Audio of the Governor’s speech can be heard below.

Podcast: Play in new window

Nathan commented in Scott’s “Winner” post earlier that no one is talking about losers in the property tax deal. Well the Star may ignore them, but the panel on Indiana Week in Review sure didn’t.

(H/T – Frugal Hoosiers)

Mitch Daniels should probably be in there somewhere, too.

Of course, don’t tell the angry sociopath at One North Capitol that her party’s highest-ranking person in state government–and pretty much all of her party’s representatives in the House–voted for property tax reform.

The more effort is expected attacking the reform package, driven by foolish knee-jerk reactions and blind hatred of the Governor, the more some Democrats are attacking others of their own party at the same time.

It is not for nothing that both The Hair and the Governor have generally been perceived as coming out of the General Assembly session as winners by pundits ranging from Abdul to Jim Shella.

Brian Howey has commented on the disconnect:

(Read more after the leap)

After the Governor’s presser, and the usual round of retirement speeches and wide arrays of legislative mutual congratulations, your humble correspondent had a chance to sit down with Chris Mann of Veritas Rex and Josh Gillespie of Hoosier Access to talk with Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman.

Photos of the event are available here.

More after the leap.

“Today is a great day for Indianapolis!”

-Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard

I briefly saw the Indy Mayor and his wife Winnie today while waiting for the start of Governor Daniels press conference after the official passage of the property tax legislation.  After I waived to them from across the hall, he came over, shook my hand and with a big smile shared with me those words.  He too was pretty elated with today’s victory for tax payers.