Indiana's property tax reform delivers relief while preserving local growth
The angst I heard talking to members of our community came, of course, with an acknowledgement that rising taxes were a result of increased home values, but a lack of transparency around home assessments and some frustration with a seemingly endless chain of school referenda made it clear that many Hoosiers were demanding relief.
Heading into the 2025 legislative session, it surprised no one that this issue was front and center for lawmakers. After months of negotiations and input from residents, the Indiana General Assembly delivered one of the most significant changes to local taxation we have seen in nearly two decades.
No one got exactly what they wanted — it would take you three minutes on social media to know that — but the result is a bill that provides immediate relief to nearly every Hoosier and, when fully implemented, allows homeowners to deduct two-thirds of their assessed value to lower their property tax bill while reining in $54 billion in local government debt.
We transformed some tax deductions into tax credits, a change that will result in lower actual tax bills for thousands of taxpayers; moved school referendums to even-year general election ballots to ensure better participation; and lowered the amount of local income taxes governments can collect by $1.9 billion.
In short, while changes to tax policy can be complicated, Senate Enrolled Act 1 not only gives Hoosier homeowners tax relief today, but also moves Indiana to a fairer, simpler and more balanced local tax system in the near future.
One of my goals as a state legislator is to ensure the voices of growing communities are represented in these debates. It was important that we find a balance between needed relief and the resources upon which communities like mine have come to rely, resources that represent critical investments in quality of life, amenities, infrastructure and key services.
Hicks: Braun cut taxes for businesses, but most Hoosiers will pay more
Carmel and Westfield, the cities I represent at the Statehouse, have enjoyed forward-thinking, fiscally responsible leadership for years. The results are demonstrative.
Carmel, for example, was ranked No. 2 on the list of the Best Places to Live in 2025 by Livability & U.S. News, and both communities are consistently ranked among the best in the country. Indiana, moreover, is now ranked 7th nationally for net in-migration, with the high-earning, talented individuals Indiana needs flocking to cities in Hamilton County. That's not an accident. The strategies that Carmel and Westfield have implemented should be celebrated and enhanced by the policies coming from the Statehouse.
That balance was not easy to strike and local governments and schools will, no doubt, be faced with difficult decisions in the future. But SEA 1 represents much-needed reform to a convoluted property tax system that disincentivizes these hard decisions today at taxpayers' expense.
Even with these changes, schools in my district will receive more money from property taxes over the next three years, and the new state budget increases tuition support for students.
I am proud of the work we did this session on this issue, and I am equally grateful for the perspectives, insights, and counsel shared by our incredible local leaders who helped legislators avoid harmful unintended consequences.
As with any bill this complex, property tax reform will remain a topic of discussion in the General Assembly, and we will be making tweaks to the law moving forward. But SEA 1 is a strong step forward to helping homeowners while improving accountability in local government spending.
State Rep. Danny Lopez, R-Carmel, represents House District 39, which includes a portion of Hamilton County.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana property tax reform delivers relief for homeowners | Opinion
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indianapolis Star
an hour ago
- Indianapolis Star
Report: Trump invites Indiana lawmakers to the White House for redistricting talks
This article will be updated. President Donald Trump has invited all 110 Republican members of the Indiana General Assembly to the White House for an Aug. 26 meeting, Punchchbowl News is reporting. Indiana may well become the next front in a nationwide fight over how congressional districts are drawn ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. The Trump administration hopes that lines can be redrawn to pad the Republican majority in the U.S. Congress. On Aug. 7, Vice President JD Vance discussed the prospect of redistricting in a meeting with Gov. Mike Braun and Indiana legislative leaders, but multiple members of Indiana's supermajority have already spoken out against the idea. "We are being asked to create a new culture in which it would be normal for a political party to select new voters, not once a decade — but any time it fears the consequences of an approaching election," State Sen. Spencer Deery, R-Lafayette, wrote in the most scathing statement yet on the subject. "That would clearly violate the concept of popular sovereignty by making it harder for the people to hold their elected officials accountable and the country would be an uglier place for it." To redraw the congressional maps in Indiana, Braun would need to call for a special session, bringing lawmakers back to approve new maps. Republicans already control seven of the nine congressional seats in Indiana. Spokespeople for the Indiana House Republicans and Indiana Senate Republicans did not immediately respond to confirm the invitation. Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@ Contact IndyStar Statehouse reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@ or follow her on X@kayla_dwyer17.
Fox News
2 hours ago
- Fox News
SC Republican mounts bid for House seat currently occupied by gubernatorial hopeful Nancy Mace
South Carolina Republican state Rep. Mark Smith launched a bid for U.S. Congress. He is running for the seat in the Palmetto State's 1st Congressional District, which is currently occupied by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, who is running for governor. Mace launched a gubernatorial bid earlier this month, leaving her House seat up for grabs in the 2026 election. "In the State House, I fought for the largest tax cut in South Carolina history, backed the blue, cracked down on illegal immigration, and defended our values without apology," Smith declared in a Thursday post on X. Smith has served in the state House of Representatives since late 2020. "In South Carolina's 1st District, we need a proven conservative leader who will fight for President Trump's America First agenda and deliver results — not drama," he said in the X post. "The Lowcountry needs a fighter who will stand with President Trump and puts South Carolina first. That's exactly what I'll do in Washington," he asserted.
Boston Globe
4 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Nicholas Alahverdian wanted to be ‘relevant.' Now he's a convicted rapist.
This is a tragic understatement, but it turns out Alahverdian – who has also gone by Nicholas Rossi and then Arthur Knight when he was on the lam in Scotland – had a much more sinister history than any of the reporters he called incessantly over the years ever realized. Advertisement It has to be a relief for at least one of his victims that Alahverdian is going to serve a substantial prison sentence – potentially for the rest of his life. But it's difficult to avoid looking in the mirror and wondering about the role of Rhode Island's media in amplifying his claims and looking the other way when seemingly obvious red flags emerged. Get Rhode Island News Alerts Sign up to get breaking news and interesting stories from Rhode Island in your inbox each weekday. Enter Email Sign Up If you don't know Alahverdian's story, it's every bit worthy of a movie script. That's why there have been multiple The short version: He was an advocate for reforming the child welfare system in Rhode Island, and led a secret life as a criminal who conned multiple people out of money. And, it turns out, he was a rapist. He was finally caught when he landed in a Scottish hospital with COVID-19 while living under an alias, and was extradited to Utah, where he was wanted for rape. Advertisement Alahverdian popped on my radar in 2010 when I was a young reporter; in fact, I was still bartending to make ends meet at the time, and we met when he brought a date to Gregg's in Providence, where I was working. No one disputes that Alahverdian had a rough upbringing – a dysfunctional family life that led to even more dysfunctional stints in foster care, which ultimately led him to sue the state of Rhode Island. Along the way, he became obsessed with local politics, became a State House intern, and became a fierce advocate for reforming the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. I found him to be polished, intense, and strangely needy for someone in his early 20s. But he had the vibe of a poser in a middle school cafeteria – the type who laughed a little too loudly at jokes, sucked up to the cool kids, and just wanted to be accepted as 'relevant' – that was a word he enjoyed using. Sometime in 2011, I remember having a drink at Local 121, a popular politico bar in Providence that no longer exists. The room was filled with current and former elected officials, operatives, and journalists, and Alahverdian was there working the room. He wasn't exactly part of the group, but he wasn't exactly unwelcome, either. No one was eager to be his friend, but no one minded that he was there. It was like he was trying to will himself into the picture, even if he didn't quite fit the frame. Advertisement He latched onto reporters like me because he thought we could make him more relevant – and many of us took the bait. I've always taken some pride in not writing about him or his terrifying stories of abuse while in state care, but I can't really attribute those decisions to impeccable instincts. I liked exclusive stories, and he was a fixture on the 6 p.m. news. I did, however, pick up the phone when he called, and he called a lot… for years. I can't speak for every reporter who covered him, but I don't think they simply fell for his ruse. He had a story to tell: It mostly checked out, and busy journalists found him to be highly quotable and always available. Still, there were warning signs. A quick background check on Alahverdian showed he had legal problems in the past, although the details were vague. He had spent some time in both Ohio and Utah, but didn't talk much about those experiences. It turns out he was a registered sex offender, based on an incident at a community college in Ohio. He also had a stint as a student at Harvard's extension school, but he spoke about attending Harvard as though he was an undergraduate. I remember asking another journalist in town about Alahverdian's criminal record, and they were more sympathetic. Anyone who experienced what he did as a child could fall off track as an adult, the reporter reasoned. Besides, it didn't make his story any less true. What we didn't know at the time was that a rape kit from 2008 was sitting on a shelf in Utah waiting to be tested. By the time it was, Alahverdian was mostly out of sight and out of mind in Rhode Island. Advertisement It's unclear exactly when he landed in Scotland, but law enforcement now believes that was an effort to evade rape charges in Utah, and a federal fraud investigation out of Ohio. It had been at least a year since I had heard from Alahverdian when I received a press release on Jan. 10, 2020, claiming that he was diagnosed with late-stage non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I remember feeling bad for him, but also thinking, very cynically, that at least I wouldn't have to answer his phone calls anymore. Of course, I was wrong about that, because I ended up having to talk with a woman named She was irate that the Globe wouldn't run Alahverdian's obituary. We actually initially published an Associated Press story on his death, but I asked for it to be taken down because something didn't seem right. I had no reason to believe he was a criminal in hiding, but I wouldn't put it past him to fake his own death and seek attention from local journalists – and all the details were coming from an unknown person. Law enforcement officials now believe Alahverdian was seeking to use all the attention he got for his death to throw them off his scent. In the end, Alahverdian's story fell apart. He has since admitted that he faked his own death, although he claimed he was hiding out because of threats made against him in Rhode Island – none of which appear to be true. Advertisement For years, Alahverdian fought to control his own narrative – to make himself matter, to keep himself in the headlines, to make sure he was the one telling the story. But in that Utah courtroom this week, none of the spin, aliases, or theatrics mattered. The jury didn't see an advocate or a victim. They saw a rapist. He once told me he just wanted to be 'relevant.' Now he is, for all the worst reasons – and in a way he'll never be able to rewrite. Dan McGowan can be reached at
