From the New Castle Courier:
Henry County officials say they are opposed to any change in legislation that would eliminate or reduce the business personal property tax.
Gov. Mike Pence is pressing the General Assembly to do away with that tax.
County Auditor Pat French said Henry County taxing bodies stand to lose a combined $113 million in business personal property tax. About $31 million of that would be revenues headed for New Castle.
"In theory it may sound like a good idea to make Indiana's business tax structure attractive for investment," French said. "But they don't understand the detriment this would have on our county."
French said House Bill 1001 will allow counties to decide whether to exempt only new business personal property as early as 2015. This would reduce the immediate effect of tax revenue lost by local governments and schools, which would continue to collect tax on existing business personal property.
The effect of an exemption would vary widely from county to county, according to a fiscal impact statement prepared by the Legislative Services Agency.
Allowing counties to decide for themselves whether to eliminate the tax would create an unfair business environment in those counties, like Henry County, that cannot afford to do so, she said.
"Removing the tax would potentially place the tax burden back on homeowners and that could run between $500 to $1,000 per family," French said. "Even our own county government would be forced to cut jobs or programs. This would not help us when we want to work with Anderson or Muncie to attract jobs."
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http://www.thecouriertimes.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=285271&SectionID=23&SubSectionID=45&S=1
