INDIANAPOLIS - With the pressure on to restructure property taxes, the Indiana General Assembly rocketed out of the gate last week, grinding through several proposals to change the way property taxes are collected and spent.
The first week of the Legislature's 2008 session was extremely busy, and the week ahead will be busier still, with several key votes planned on property tax issues.
Here's what's happened thus far:
The Legislature convened Tuesday, and the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee got right to work approving several bills to send to the full Senate.
One of them, Senate Bill 18, would let voters approve or reject large capital projects of $7 million or more, such as new school construction.
Such voter referendums would replace the current petition drive-remonstrance process.
A grass-roots group of advocates for eliminating property taxes, led by Eric Miller of Advance America and John Price of the Indiana Property Tax Repeal Alliance, staged a rally Tuesday at the Statehouse.
They unveiled a proposal they said could eliminate property taxes by raising the sales tax 2 percent and the income tax 1 percent, a concept some key legislators have dismissed as unrealistic.
Mindful of the political muscle of anti-tax protesters, a Senate committee held a four-hour hearing Tuesday on a proposed constitutional amendment, SJR 8, that would eliminate property taxes on homesteads but not on businesses.
Sen. Mike Young, R-Indianapolis, said property tax revenues might be replaced by extending the state's sales taxes to services.
No vote was taken in the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday. Senate President David Long plans another hearing this week.
The duties of township-level assessors would be shifted to county assessors under Senate Bill 116 that the Senate Local Government Committee approved Wednesday.
Township assessors complained they weren't to blame for problems with implementing the new assessing rules that contributed to property taxes increasing an average 24 percent statewide.
Meanwhile, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill Thursday that would have the state pick up the tab for school operating costs (including teacher salaries) and county child welfare costs, potentially reducing the burden on property taxpayers.
Property taxes now account for about 15 percent of the school general fund, while state money makes up the rest. Under the proposal, Senate Bill 1, the state would fund the entire school general fund starting in 2010 and also pay for child welfare services that counties currently have to fund.
Paying for both would cost the state nearly $3 billion. The bill, which doesn't specify ways to make up that cost, now goes to the full Senate.
While the governor's property tax plan is broken up into several bills in the Senate, it was introduced as one massive bill in the Indiana House. Wednesday in Fort Wayne and Thursday in South Bend, the House Ways and Means Committee held eight-hour public hearings to gauge taxpayer input on the governor's proposal, House Bill 1001.
Looking ahead to the coming week:
Gov. Mitch Daniels will deliver his State of the State address Tuesday where he will try to make the case for his property tax restructuring package.
Then on Wednesday, Daniels will testify before the House Ways and Means Committee to answer questions about his proposal.
State Rep. Dennis Avery, D-Evansville, said he anticipates possible changes to the bill concerning the state taking over the costs of placement of juveniles in the child welfare system.
Daniels' multi-part plan would cut residential property taxes by 31 percent by increasing the 6 percent sales tax to 7 percent, shifting school operating costs and child-welfare costs off property taxes, and capping taxes on homesteads at 1 percent of assessed value.
Daniels' proposal also would eliminate township assessors.
Indiana Chief Justice Randall Shepard, an Evansville native, will deliver his State of the Judiciary address Wednesday to a joint session of the Indiana House and Senate.
Although property taxes are the predominant issue of the 2008 session, state lawmakers are considering other issues.
State Rep. Phil Hoy, D-Evansville, is author of House Bill 1096 that streamlines procedures in the court system and expands the authority of magistrates.
That bill was passed by the House Courts and Criminal Code Committee, which Hoy chairs.
A regional agreement to help monitor, manage and protect Great Lakes water resources was approved by a Senate committee Wednesday.
The Great Lakes Compact would create a uniform set of watershed standards for the states bordering Lake Michigan and Lake Erie.
That plan now moves to the full Senate.
Parts of the Kernan-Shepard commission's recommendations for restructuring local government were introduced as a bill this week.
Senate Bill 33, authored by Sen. Mike Delph, R-Indianapolis, would replace the three-member County Commissioners with a single county executive, eliminate township-level government and make changes to school board elections.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.