Indianapolis, IN

Thu 5 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about the property tax increase in Indianapolis. Property taxes in Indianapolis went out last week, and most people are appalled. The expected tax increase was estimated to be between 30-40%, but some people’s taxes went up 100-200%. (A few people claim theirs went up as high as 350%!) According to a story from WTHR, about 300 people turned out for a protest in front of the governor’s mansion on Meridian St. yesterday. There were so many people that showed up, they police had to shut down a portion of Meridian St. for part of the time. (The governor wasn’t at home. He was off doing governor things.) The rally was led by former gubernatorial candidate Andrew Horning and volunteers from the group Americans for Fair Taxation. I do have to give Horning credit: he didn’t want people to start acting crazy stupid about all this and tearing up crap, but he wanted people to act civil (act like adults??) and use their power to vote out all the incumbents. That may work in the future, but what’s it going to do about their tax bills right now? These bills are currently due July 27. People can file appeals and maybe eventually have to go to tax court. What do you do if you are on a fixed income? Or what do you do if you live paycheck to paycheck? It was hard enough to pay your taxes as it was, but now when you double or triple (or even quadruple) your tax bill? They’re not going to make it. Even if you have money, who can afford $10,000-15,000/year in property taxes? And it doesn’t even make sense. One person’s property tax may go up 150% and your neighbor with a more expensive home only had a 35% increase. One assessor claimed that part of the increase is because developers keep building all of the new homes everywhere (even where they aren’t wanted.) We are in the process of looking for a home and one of the first things we look for is how much the taxes are. But even if we find a place where we can afford it, who knows what’s going to happen in three or four years? Are they going to triple it again? I think it’s ridiculous and so do most homeowners in Indianapolis. I guess it’s another way to keep the rich rich and the poor poor. Or maybe we’ll all end up like the Chris Farley character on a Saturday Night Live skit: We’ll all live in a van down by the river.

: property taxes, Governor Mitch Daniels, Andrew Horning, Americans for Fair Taxation, property tax appeals, Saturday Night Live, , Chris Farley