By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
During a recent Decatur City Council discussion about the eventual need to finance the nearly $4 million dollar purchase of a new aerial truck for the fire department, Mayor Dan Rickord cautioned that “there is no way we can make this decision (on financing) now, not until we find out what the tax cuts are going to be.”
Rickord is worried – and angered – as are many mayors and municipal officials all across Indiana about potential revenue losses through property tax cuts.
There’s almost a fever in the General Assembly, led by the state’s new governor, Mike Braun, to cut property taxes. Braun campaigned on property tax cuts and, now in office, is following through.
He recently said that local governments are going to have to learn to live with the losses.
Hoosiers across the state are struggling with “huge hikes” in their property tax bills, the governor said in his State of the State speech.
There has been opposition in the General Assembly, some from the governor’s party.
Mayor Rickord said the proposed property tax losses will cause Decatur, within three years, to lose over $1 million from its budget.
“I believe we do a great job spending within our means. We do not waste money,” he told WZBD.com. “We have talented employees that save us hundreds of thousands of dollars every year doing much of the project work themselves. I love our group of employees and we would love to pay them more, but we have to stay with what we can afford. This will make it even tougher.”
“I would hate to cut any employees or services to our residents, but that is what the state is pushing us towards. We try to save money to make major purchases, like fire trucks, and this will just pull the rug right out from under us.”
And, he added, “I can’t even begin to tell you how bad this will be for the schools.”
The Decatur mayor contends the claimed benefits from the property tax cuts will not be that great.
“They sell these tax cuts like the residents will see benefits on their property taxes, but that is not how the formula will work. Most of our residents are at the tax caps and will not see any true cost savings,” he told WZBD.com.
“I am 100% for a reduction for seniors and veterans, which can easily be a part of this bill. The problem is the way the formulas work, the multi-million dollar companies across the state will see millions in savings, not our residents.”
“If they are so set on making tax cuts, why don’t they look at state taxes, rather than taking from the local level, where so many services are provided.”
At a recent meeting with legislative leaders, Kosciusko County Commissioner Sue Ann Mitchel said her county is expected to drop $12 million.”
“That’s a pretty big belt-tightening for us,” she said.
The Indiana Business Journal explained that opposition at the same meeting was bipartisan. Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam, a Republican, and Terre Haute Mayor Brandon Sakbun, a Democrat, testified together.
They both gave examples of how their municipalities have prioritized spending and found savings in the past to lower the taxpayer burden, according to the IBJ story. They each also expressed concerns that largely hinged on adequately funding public safety, which is typically one of the largest local expenses.
Finkham said the bill in question would revert Carmel’s property tax revenue collections to the 2019 level, amounting to an estimated $2.7 billion in total assessed value deductions and a $26.1 million loss to its general fund.
“We are going to find ways, any way possible, to make sure that public safety is number one so we can take care of those who we’ve been elected to take care of,” Finkam said. “We’ll figure it out, but it’ll be devastating to our community for every other aspect of service that we provide.”
Finkham added that since 2020, the cost to repave a mile of road has surged 43 percent and emergency medical response costs have jumped 33 percent. “Both of these figures exclude rising personnel costs, “ he added.
