Radio personalities headline property tax rally at Indiana Statehouse

Yahoo

17-03-2025

Hundreds of Hoosiers attended a property tax rally on March 17, 2025, urging lawmakers to provide relief after back-to-back increases. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Hundreds of irate property owners gathered at the Indiana Statehouse on St. Patrick's Day to pressure lawmakers into adopting Gov. Mike Braun's plan for tax cuts, led by popular conservative radio personalities Rob Kendall, Casey Daniels and Jason Hammer.
Speakers had to yell to be heard over the crowd, who called out legislators by name — including Senate Majority Leader Rodric Bray and Rep. Jeff Thompson — and threatened noncompliant politicians with a primary challenger in their next election.
'At the end of this hour, I don't know what we can do (or) what we can change, but we can call out the weasels that do not have your interests in their interest,' challenged Hammer, who led several call-and-response chants. 'If you're a law-abiding taxpayer and you're pissed off, on the count of three, make as much noise as you can!'
Hammer co-hosts the Hammer and Nigel Show on radio station WIBC while Kendall and Daniels headline Kendall and Casey, also on WIBC. All three pushed the property tax rally ahead of the Monday event.
Speakers adopted language from national Republican leaders like President Donald Trump and his key adviser Elon Musk, calling for the slashing of government through a DOGE-like entity.
Radio duo Kendall and Daniels explicitly called on lawmakers to adopt Braun's tax plan, which has been criticized for the deep cuts schools would see alongside smaller — but significant — decreases for counties, cities and townships. Some officials testified earlier this month that they would have to abort plans to expand their fire departments or reduce law enforcement services due to anticipated cuts.
'I'm asking this state government to get back on track and run itself efficiently. It's not like we're asking locals and school districts to do anything more,' Braun told the crowd. 'Government should be the most powerful at the local level, but they cannot be growing their enterprises faster than the economy grows.'
Braun has criticized schools for their spending, as seen in his property tax plan that would save homeowners a collective $1.3 billion but cost schools $536 million.
A former Dubois County school board member, Braun recalled an instance where the district considered replacing a $16,000 bench because of some peeling paint. Instead, another board member bought paint and hired a correction crew to paint it for $800.
'We'll land this plane in a good place that gives real relief and keeps our governments healthy,' said Braun. 'But if it isn't for this (rally), they're going to keep trying to push for nothing. And nothing isn't good enough.'
Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, who frequently tweeted about the rally ahead of Monday, said that he made the unusual decision to publicly campaign for his seat because 'we are being taxed way too much.'
'I've heard countless stories from people today and throughout the last two years where their property taxes have increased over 50%, 60% and even 100% in one case,' Beckwith said at the property tax rally. 'That is egregious and we need to stop it and we're going to stop it.'
A trio of Republican house lawmakers called for the complete elimination of the state's property tax system, echoing sentiments on signs distributed at the rally that read 'Property tax is theft.'
'This is a radical idea for some, but what's so radical about … getting rid of something unconstitutional?' Rep. Craig Haggard, R-Mooresville, said. 'You were never meant by the forefathers to pay rent to the federal government, to the state government or to anybody else.'
Rep. Andrew Ireland, who represents a sliver of Marion County, specifically called out spending in Indianapolis on public transit, drag queen story hours at the library and public health investments, likened some of the pushback to changing the diaper of his newborn.
'… when these local leaders come to this building and they tell us, 'There is nothing to cut. The sky is going to fall if you cut anything.' It sure smells a lot like that green dirty diaper,' Ireland said.
One elected official from Marshall County said that the system was 'so broken that I can't cut your taxes locally.'
'The system should encourage responsible spending. It should fund the services that people care about but, today, it fails on both counts,' continued Jesse Bohannon, a county commissioner. ' 'It punishes budget cutting and encourages aggressive spending. It encourages local governments to hoard money.'
He called for the 'billions of dollars locked up' to be refunded to everyday taxpayers, saying government growth has outpaced inflation.
Three separate property tax plans have been introduced thus far at the Statehouse from Braun, Senate Republicans and Rep. Jeff Thompson, the House's key budget architect and chair of the Ways and Means Committee.
Each takes a different approach to property taxes, balancing relief for homeowners with the budget needs of local units of government.
While Braun's proposal offered the most tax relief, it also sharply reduced school budgets. Thompson's pitch, on the other hand, had limited savings for homeowners and the smallest cuts for government services.
Braun floated the possibility that he would veto the Senate plan last month. Property tax rally attendees also urged Braun to call for a special session if lawmakers failed to deliver relief.
What will stay in the final version of the property tax bill remains to be seen, but both Republican legislative leaders appear to have gotten their marching orders from Braun on the end goal.
'I think Gov. Braun wants to get to a place where we can say that your property taxes will be lower next year in 2026 than they are in 2025,' Bray told reporters Thursday. 'I think that's a victory for Governor Braun, it's a victory for us, it's a victory for homeowners across the state of Indiana. That would be the first and foremost goal.'
House Speaker Todd Huston echoed that aim.
'The goal's to try and have the '26 property tax bill be less than the '25 property tax bill. We'll see if we can get there,' he told reporters.
When asked, Huston also said he was concerned about rent — noting that some of the increase is in property taxes.
Democrats were more critical.
'We need to provide some relief to Hoosiers … and then we make sure that we listen to our local governments who are saying, 'Please, we rely on our property taxes to be able to pay for our police, fire, our schools,'' Senate Minority Leader Shelli Yoder said on Thursday. 'And balancing those two are difficult, but we need to make sure that in the end, we get it right.'
Indiana Capital Chronicle Reporter Leslie Bonilla Muñiz contributed to this story.
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