Property tax rebate plan yields costs, confusion

By Niki Kelly, The Journal Gazette

INDIANAPOLIS - In the waning hours of a legislative session, negotiation sometimes breeds strange results.

What better way to explain what happened with the now-infamous rebate check for property tax relief - a notion first brought up publicly on the second-to-last day of a four-month session?

Democrat House Speaker Pat Bauer came up with the idea as a way to ensure the General Assembly gets proper credit for the $300 million in aid. But there wasn't enough time to hash out some of the more quirky ramifications behind the move.

Republicans - who controlled the Senate and the governor's office - could have blocked it but ultimately backed down. To be fair, the rebate language was inserted into the state budget so a decision to fight that battle would have meant a special session.

And now county officials and homeowners across the state are dealing with the consequences.