For counties which impose a County Adjusted Gross Income Tax (CAGIT), a portion of the certified distribution is dedicated to Property Tax Replacement Credits (PTRC). Per IC 6-3.5-1.1-14(c), “a civil taxing until shall treat any property tax replacement credits that it receives or is to receive during a particular calendar year as a part of its property tax levy for that same calendar year for purposes of fixing its budget and for purposes of the property tax levy limits imposed by IC 6-1.1-18.5.”
For the normal processing of budgets, the Department applies
the expected PTRC distribution for the budget year against the appropriate fund
or funds of the taxing unit, thereby reducing the final certified levies for
the impacted funds. In addition, this
amount also is removed from the maximum levy allowable for the unit per IC
6-1.1-18.5. For purposes of certifying the
2012 budgets, the Department applied the PTRC expected to be received in 2012
to the appropriate funds and maximum levies.
Based on the timing of the release of the updated PTRC
values for 2011 and 2012, it is not practical at this point to update certified
levies for these units for these years to account for the updated PTRC
values. As a result, the units will be
receiving more in PTRC than the amount of relief budgeted in the 2011 and 2012
certified budgets.
To address this situation, the Department directs taxing
units to place the additional PTRC above the original certification of the PTRC
amounts for 2011 and 2012 into their levy excess fund. Levy excess is defined in IC 6-1.1-18.5-17 as
“the part of the ad valorem property tax levy actually collected by a civil
unit’s ad valorem property tax levy, as approved by the department of local
government finance under IC 6-1.1-17.”
There is similar language for schools in IC 20-44-3. The Department will then require the taxing
unit to include this amount in its levy excess fund when fixing the civil
taxing unit’s budget under IC 6-1.1-17 for the 2013 budget year.
