INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Braun wants to lead Indiana as its next governor. He is now promising to make changes to the state's property tax structure if he is elected.
Braun, the Republican candidate for governor, unveiled his property tax plan in a social media last Friday.
After receiving feedback from the initial rollout of his plan, Braun assures Hoosiers in high-tax districts will find relief. He says to ensure all homeowners benefit from his plan, he is adding an additional feature.
“Since the successful rollout of my bold property tax relief plan last Friday, most Hoosiers have found they will see significant property tax cuts by resetting their tax bills to 2021 levels due to enhanced homestead deductions. However, some Hoosiers in high-tax districts would still find little relief," Braud said. "As Governor, I will embrace feedback from everyday Hoosiers on how to improve our state. To ensure all homeowners benefit from my plan, I'm introducing an additional feature to this plan to guarantee all homeowners have their bills reset to at least their 2021 pre-Biden/Harris inflation levels. - All Hoosier homeowners' tax bills will be reset to the lower of their 2021 tax bill or the new bill based on enhanced deductions in my plan.”
Last Friday, Braun proposed to push for two caps on yearly property tax increase growth. The first would limit tax bill increases to 2 percent for seniors, families with children, and low-income Hoosiers, and the second would install a tax bill increase limit of 3 percent for everyone else.
"Revenues that flow into various governments that depend on property taxes should never grow faster than the economy," said Braun in an interview with WRTV shortly before the Republican primary election. "There should have been some type of lid put on property taxes when the system got skewed."
The second policy change Braun is considering is allowing homeowners with an assessed home value of more than $125,000 to deduct 60 percent of the assessed value from their tax bill.
Braun also proposes requiring tax referendum votes happen during "high-turnout elections," which the statement explained would mainly consist of general elections in even-numbered years.
His opponent in the governor's election, Democratic Party candidate Jennifer McCormick, criticized Braun's actions in a statement sent to WRTV.
“Mike Braun voted for higher Hoosier property taxes when he had the chance and is now only talking about a tax cut because he’s another politician Hoosiers are sick of," McCormick said in the statement.
Indiana University economics professor Justin Ross looked over Braun's property tax proposal with WRTV.
He believes the changes are not a drastic departure from Indiana's current system, which already features a lower property tax rate than many states in his analysis.
"Is this going to be a subsidy fro the state? Is the state going to pay part of the tax bill or is it going to be like our existing property tax cap where those homeowners just don't have to pay the local government?" Ross said. "We're going to argue until the end of time over whether the level is correct, that's just the fundamental nature of democracy."
