Sen.
Leising’s Bill to Prevent Nearly $60 Million Farm
Tax Increase Gets Fast Tracked by General
Assembly
STATEHOUSE (Feb.
11, 2013) — A bill by State Sen. Jean Leising (R-Oldenburg) to prevent an
estimated $57 million property tax increase on Indiana farmers may be the first
piece of legislation approved by the full General Assembly during the 2013
session.
New soil productivity
factors used for farmland assessment in Indiana could cause a 25 percent average
increase in property tax payments for Indiana’s 62,000 farmers, depending on
which counties they call home. Leising said, because of those upcoming property
tax assessments, the bill has been fast tracked and was approved by the House
Committee on Ways and Means today with a 20-0 vote.
Senate Bill 319
would delay, for an additional year, the implementation of new soil productivity
factors proposed by the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) used to
assess farmland property taxes — meaning the soil productivity factors used for
the March 1, 2011, assessment date will be used again for the March 1, 2013,
assessment date.
Leising said her
legislation was developed after she led the General Assembly’s 2012 Interim Study Committee on
Agriculture.
“A large focus of this summer’s study
committee meetings was the drought our farmers were experiencing,” Leising said.
“This led us, as legislators, to ask ourselves what we could do to help our
struggling farm families. We knew the new soil productivity factors would have a
negative impact on farmers. Now it’s time to ensure farmland is being assessed
using common sense and in a way that doesn’t burden those who are the backbone
of Indiana agriculture — a huge segment of our overall economy.”
SB 319 would also require the DLGF, with
the Purdue University College of Agriculture, to submit a report on proposed
soil productivity factors by Nov. 1, 2013, to the General Assembly for
consideration.
Indiana Farm Bureau
(IFB) supports SB 319, noting it could be the most important legislation for the
state’s agriculture industry this year.
“For the last year,
this has been one of the most serious tax issues facing Indiana farmers,” IFB
spokeswoman Katrina Hall said. “We really appreciate Senator Leising’s diligence
with this legislation. We can’t thank her enough for her detailed attention to
the problems facing our farmers.”
Leising’s legislation
now moves to the full House of Representatives for further consideration.
