Evansville Courier & Press
INDIANAPOLIS - Saying a special session of the Legislature to deal with property-taxes is now "very unlikely," Gov. Mitch Daniels today announced another relief measure: extending until Oct. 15 the deadline for homeowners to apply for the homestead credit and deduction.
Daniels said many homeowners had missed the original June 10 deadline and experienced the "double whammy" of a big property-tax increase without the 2008 exemption they were entitled to.
The standard homestead deduction reduces the taxable value of an owner-occupied home by as much as $45,000, according to the governor's office. Those who already filed need not do so again.
Daniels said he will ask the Legislature to pass legislation to ratify the Oct. 15 deadline retroactively when it re-convenes in late November for its organization day. That could be done quickly, he said.
The governor added, however, that a special session to consider broader relief appears unlikely. Although the Legislature last April had approved a $300 million tax-rebate-check program to reduce an expected 24 percent property-tax increase, lawmakers all summer had talked of converting the rebate check into a tax credit to provide immediate relief.
Daniels said the rebate program's author, House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, listened but would not budge off the idea of sending rebate checks to homeowners after they had already paid their property-tax bills.
"The Speaker authored the rebate, likes the rebate and insists on keeping the rebate, so a rebate it is," Daniels said.
Bauer was out of state but will issue a response later today, his press secretary said.
Daniels said that before the 2008 session of the Legislature, he will unveil more "fundamental" property-tax relief proposals.