Mike Braun adjusts property tax reform proposal after concerns about uneven impact

Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) is adjusting his property tax reform proposal, just days after he unveiled it.

Braun is responding to criticism over the plan’s uneven impact.

Braun’s original proposal made major changes to the homestead deductions used to calculate property tax bills. Braun said it would reset everyone’s bills to 2021 levels.

But that wasn’t true. For homes with values of at least $125,000, homeowners paying a tax rate of about 2.5 percent or more wouldn’t see any savings under Braun’s plan.

And in Indiana’s 10 most populous counties — which account for half the state’s population — more than half of the tax districts had rates above 2.5 percent.

READ MORE: Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun unveils plan to make major property tax changes
 

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For homes with assessed values less than $125,000, the tax rate at which savings under Braun’s initial plan disappeared was about 4.9 percent.

So now, Braun said homeowners’ tax bills would reduce to either what they paid in 2021 or the new calculation in his plan, whichever is lower.

Still no word what the proposal would cost local governments, as property taxes largely pay for schools, police and fire departments.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.