First Florida, Now Indiana - Chronicles of the the Looming Property Tax Revolt
The obscene run up of Property taxes across the nation is starting to have an impact, and t is no accident that this is occuring as property values moderate.
If politicians have any sense, they had better prepare to be on the right side of this issue.
INDIANAPOLIS — On July 4, hundreds of tax protestors showed up in front of the governor’s mansion here. They’ve been back several times since. As a result, Gov. Mitch Daniels has been scrambling and the city’s mayor has ordered a hiring freeze and a 10% cut in his budget. There have even been calls for a special session for the legislature and even a state constitutional convention.
Runaway property taxes are an issue wherever property values have shot up in recent years. But now Indiana may be at the forefront of a homeowner rebellion against a tax system that has come to be seen as arbitrary, unfair and unpredictable. What’s driving this angst is the first reassessment of property values in six years. In Marion County (the city of Indianapolis), average property taxes increased by 34%. Across the state, the average increase is 24%. Many homeowners’ bills have increased much more.
The culprit in rising property taxes has been the insane waste in hiring, payroll, pensions, and perks in the Education Monopoly. Sure, local Fire Departments, Police, and other municipal taxing bodies have had a go at the pension pig-out, but NO ONE has been as greedy as the Education Bureaucracy.
Any politician who doesn’t point this out to the voter is doing themselves and their constituents a massive disservice.
Property taxes also, at the margin, lower property values. Retired Indiana University economist Morton Marcus calculates that for every $1,000 increase in property taxes, the value of a home falls by almost $12,000. Moreover, high and uncertain property taxes make it more difficult to attract workers and capital investment to the state.
Well Duh!! Show that stat to the dingy real estate agents who moon over their suburb’s artificially propped up test scores. Maybe some enterprizing politician will see the light and see just how fast real estate can bounce back if we ZERO OUT the education portion of your property tax.
For his part, Mr. Daniels has called on his staff to brainstorm for ideas, has encouraged them to meet with affected people, and is weighing whether to call the legislature back into town to enact reforms. He has expressed interest in eliminating the property tax. And he seems quite interested in another significant issue — reducing the number of local governments in the state. Indiana has 2,730 local taxing authorities. Eliminating some of these may improve efficiency and therefore reduce property taxes, but the history of government consolidation is not encouraging.
Get rid of the property tax for schools, abolish the school district, convert every public school into a charter school, and give every child in the state a scholarship of equal value. If a small tax increase at the state level is less than the massive property tax cut, it is still a tax cut.
The key is for some one to have the guts to run against the public education monopoly. It will take some effort to get past their unwarranted public support. But once people are informed that the entire ediface is built off of deceit and greed, they will turn on them quickly.
