From the Farm Bureau Public Policy Dispatch:
SOIL PRODUCTIVITY CORRECTION
MOVING IN HOUSE Following last week’s announcement by House Speaker
Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) that SB 319 would be fast-tracked
through the House, the House Ways & Means Committee heard and approved it on
Monday morning. SB 319 was presented to the committee on Monday
by its author, Sen. Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg), and House sponsors Reps. Don
Lehe (R-Brookston) and Bob Cherry (R-Greenfield) and supported by Katrina Hall
of Farm Bureau. The bill will retain the 2011 soil productivity factors for the
2013 assessment of farmland and direct the Department of Local Government
Finance, in cooperation with the Purdue College of Agriculture, to develop and
submit to the General Assembly recommendations and justifications for any
proposed changes in the methodology used to establish soil productivity
adjustments to the base value of farmland.
The House Rules state that there may be no more than three co-authors or
co-sponsors of a bill. Occasionally, this rule is waived and additional
co-sponsors are added to a bill. Rep. Cherry has obtained such a waiver from
Speaker Bosma for SB 319 and by noon on Friday the bill had 66
sponsors and co-sponsors.
The bill passed second reading without amendment on Thursday and will be
eligible for final action in the House next week.
BILL TO PROTECT AG AND INDUSTRIAL OPERATIONS FROM UNAUTHORIZED
PHOTOGRAPHY MOVING IN SENATE The Senate Corrections & Criminal Law
Committee met on Tuesday and approved an amended version of SB
373, which will make it illegal to record an agricultural or industrial
operation without the operator’s consent. The bill was amended by committee to
reduce the penalty and add an exception for transferring the recording to
appropriate law enforcement officials. The committee also discussed protecting
an individual who transferred a recording to a media outlet. It is expected that
an effort will be made to amend the bill on second reading. SB
373 was presented to the committee by its author, Sen. Travis Holdman
(R-Markle), and supported by Farm Bureau’s Bob Kraft as well as Indiana Pork,
the Indiana Poultry Association, Indiana Manufacturer’s Association and the
Indiana Chamber of Commerce. It was opposed by the Humane Society of the United
States, the Sierra Club, the Hoosier Press Association and several
individuals.
PROPOSAL TO ELIMINATE PUBLIC HEARINGS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT BUDGETS
CONSIDERED HB 1116 authored by Rep. Dan Leonard
R-Huntington), makes numerous changes concerning the administration of property
taxes. As presented to the committee, the bill would have required binding
approval of a library’s budget by the fiscal body of a county or a city. Due to
complaints by library officials, that portion of the bill was deleted. Katrina
Hall testified against portions of the bill that eliminated DLGF budget hearings
for next year, suggesting that this idea might have merit but it needs to be
studied first so that the rights of taxpayers are preserved in the process that
approves local budgets and sets property tax rates. The bill was held by the
Government Reform & Regulatory Committee until next week.
ANOTHER PERSONAL PROPERTY TAX PROPOSAL GETS A HEARING HB
1544 Rep. Eric Turner’s (R-Cicero) bill would permit a county, city or
town to authorize a 100% property tax deduction for all personal property or,
alternatively, to grant a tax credit for all property taxes imposed on all
personal property in the county, city or town. The bill provides local
government with additional flexibility when granting tax abatements. At the
request of the Apartment Association, Turner included language that extends the
2% circuit breaker to common areas owned by apartment complexes. Katrina Hall
testified in favor of the part of the bill which would give local officials the
opportunity to act on personal property taxes, noting that this may not be
something all counties could afford to do but it would be a start. She also
noted that flexibility in tax abatements should extend to agricultural
enterprises. The bill was amended to also allow personal property exemptions and
credits at levels less than 100% and was voted out of the Ways & Means
Committee on Thursday afternoon.
COMMERCIAL VEHICLE EXCISE
ADMINISTRATION Another bill introduced by Rep. Eric Turner (R-Cicero),
HB 1546, makes a number of technical changes to various state
taxes including the commercial vehicle excise tax (CVET). It makes permanent the
registration of commercial trucks in fleets of 25 or more. Katrina Hall
expressed concerns that because CVET has a revenue guarantee for local
governments, any changes to the fees paid by fleets of trucks would make
CVET paid by farmers higher. She was assured that the bill did not change any
registration fees, but Indiana Farm Bureau will be watching this bill closely
and urges members to remind legislators how high the CVET paid by farmers are
already.
SENATE CONSIDERS DIRECTING PORTION OF GASOLINE SALES TAX TO ROAD
MAINTENANCE The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee considered but did not
vote on SB 440, a bill introduced by Sen. Tim Skinner (D-Terre
Haute) that would allow part of the sales tax collected on gasoline to be
allocated among counties, cities and towns for road and street projects. It
specifies that when the retail price of fuel, including federal fuel taxes and
state fuel, sales, and use taxes, exceeds $3, the sales tax collected on the
amount above $3 is distributed to counties, cities and towns. These dollars
would be distributed on a quarterly basis and used for road construction and
maintenance only. Katrina Hall supported the bill, stating that because the
local road funding need is so great, there must be some state dollars provided
especially to smaller counties that cannot raise enough of the wheel tax and
motor vehicle surtax to make a substantial dent in their road maintenance
problem.
https://www.cvent.com/Pub/eMarketing/Pages/WebEmail.aspx?emstub=b67ffaf6-0d04-4b4b-b042-c187632070cf
