From the Lafayette Journal & Courier:
Tippecanoe County would fare much better under Indiana Senate and House alternatives to Gov. Mike Pence’s proposed elimination of the business personal property tax, according to Bob Plantenga, county treasurer, and Tom Murtaugh, county commissioner.
State Sen. Brandt Hershman, R-Buck Creek, authored Senate Bill 1, which exempts businesses with less than $25,000 in equipment and machinery from paying the state personal property tax.
Pence had proposed a total repeal of the tax, which would eliminate $1 billion in statewide revenue for counties, cities, schools and other local government operations, and, in some cases, shifted the burden to other property owners
Under Hershman’s bill, the net revenue loss spread across all Tippecanoe County taxing units would be about $234,000, according to a state fiscal impact analysis.
“This is a much more minimal impact than eliminating the full personal property tax,” Plantenga said.
Personal property tax revenue distributed to local governments would decrease about 0.5 percent, according to Plantenga’s calculations.
“You are talking, at most, someone would pay a 0.5 percent increase in property taxes, and some wouldn’t even pay that because their taxes have reached the circuit breaker cap,” Plantenga explained. “Still, some government entities would be losing 0.5 percent of their tax revenue.”
West Lafayette Community School Corp. and the city of West Lafayette likely would have to absorb the revenue loss because many taxpayers in those jurisdictions are paying the maximum taxes allowed by state law.
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See the full article here:
http://www.jconline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2014301180013&nclick_check=1
