By Bridget Levitz, Truth Staff
ELKHART -- The City with a Heart could be the first of Indiana's municipalities to join State Rep. Jackie Walorski and a groundswell of residents already demanding property tax relief.
Councilwoman Mary Olson, R-at large, will bring a resolution to the Elkhart City Council on Monday calling for the Legislature to create a tax plan in the next session to minimize or eliminate property taxes.
Sitting in front of a bright yellow sign emblazoned with the words "Eliminate Property Taxes," Olson, Mayor Dave Miller and Walorski announced the plan during a Tuesday morning press conference at City Hall.
"I am calling upon my fellow council members in Elkhart and statewide to demand the state Legislature take action to address the outcry of our constituents and resolve the tax issue," Olson said.
Homeowners throughout Indiana are up in arms over steep hikes in property tax bills brought on in part by trending, a change in how homes are valued for taxation purposes.
Elimination of the state's business inventory tax, too, Miller said, made it necessary for property taxes to cover the loss in revenue.
Statewide, residents saw bills increase as much as 35 percent. In Elkhart County, the average real estate tax bill jumped about 24 percent from last year, according to figures from the county auditor's office.
Just last week at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair, Walorski gathered more than 7,000 signatures on a petition calling for permanent tax reform. Local volunteers continue to gather signatures, and Walorski will present the petitions to Gov. Mitch Daniels on or about Aug. 10.
If Elkhart and other municipalities across the state adopt this resolution, said Olson, it would send a message to legislators that property taxes alone should not be the major source of funding for city, county and state services.
Walorski favors elimination of property taxes altogether -- to be offset by an increase in state income and sales taxes. Miller and Olson said Tuesday they "absolutely" support the end of property taxes.
Skyrocketing taxes are making it harder for property owners to keep their homes, Olson said. And when people are forced to walk away from their homes, said the mayor, the city is left to deal with abandoned properties.
One resident at Tuesday's press conference admitted she was forced to take out a loan at an 18 percent interest rate to pay her $30,000 property tax bill.
Yet another resident said she came to the meeting prepared not to like what she heard.
"We came ready to butt heads and fight," she said.
Instead, she said, residents found a few representatives ready to fight for them.
And Elkhart hopes other cities follow suit.
When cities and towns join in, Walorski said, state politicians can no longer look at the cry for tax reform as simply a "residential revolt."
"That's when we start sending a message," Walorski said. "When the cities, the councils and the mayors are involved it changes the dynamics -- it brings powers to our grassroots move."
As of Tuesday afternoon, about 3,500 members of the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns -- of which Olson is past president -- received an e-mail message about Elkhart's possible action and a sample resolution they also can adopt.
While Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman hadn't seen the message Tuesday, he said would support such a resolution. It closely mimics what IACT has been working toward, said Kauffman, who will take over as president of the organization in October.
As for elimination of property taxes altogether, Kauffman said he wouldn't go that far.
"It's a stable source of income but it's over-burdened," he said.
There needs to be reform, he said, with some things coming off property tax rolls -- such as in a plan presented by the Elkhart County Commissioners earlier this month. It called for school general funds and welfare to be taken off the property tax roll and be paid instead by statewide sales and income taxes.
Olson and Walorski were confident Tuesday other Hoosier cities will follow Elkhart's lead.
"I'm confident by the end of the day other cities will be doing the same thing," Walorski said.
"Watch the papers statewide," Olson said. "People will embrace this. It's the right thing to do."