Micah Beckwith of Noblesville is seeking the 2024 Republican nomination for Indiana lieutenant governor. Provided image
The promise of big tax cuts didn't particularly help Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch in Indiana's Republican gubernatorial primary election.
Nevertheless, one of the candidates hoping to take her job next year is vowing to slash property taxes for Hoosier homeowners if GOP delegates nominate him for lieutenant governor at the June 15 Republican State Convention.
Micah Beckwith, a Noblesville pastor, declared Wednesday he will use "all his influence" to lower property taxes if the convention selects him as running mate for U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, and they win at the Nov. 5 general election.
"We need to make Indiana affordable. Too many of our citizens are being taxed out of their homes by surging property taxes," Beckwith said. "It has been said that ending the property tax surge is complicated and hard. I have always believed that when there is a will there is a way. As the next lieutenant governor, I will have the energy and determination to provide relief."
Specifically, Beckwith is calling for eliminating property taxes for individuals age 65 and up who have lived in Indiana at least 10 years, eliminating property taxes for all veterans with 10 years of military service, and capping property tax payments for all homeowners at the same amount as the year they purchased their home.
"As a homeowner, and like so many Hoosiers, I fear when I get the updated mortgage statement on how much our monthly payment has increased due to increases in property taxes and insurance. I know how this takes a huge bite out of family budgets," Beckwith said.
Beckwith did not provide an estimate of how much money Indiana homeowners might expect to save under his plan, or how much local units of government, including public schools, will be required to cut to make up for their property tax revenue losses.
Though he doesn't seem particularly worried about the latter: "It is time to put government spending on a permanent diet to make Indiana affordable again," Beckwith said.
"It is time to find a way to stop surging property tax bills. It could not be more critical with inflation soaring. Our seniors are having to decide between food on the table or a roof over their head. That's wrong. I will provide the leadership to end this over-taxation," Beckwith said.
Beckwith is competing against Braun's preferred running mate, first-term state Rep. Julie McGuire, R-Indianapolis, for the Republican lieutenant governor nomination. Braun will be stuck with the delegates' lieutenant governor selection no matter how it turns out.
Braun also has expressed a general interest in working with the Republican-controlled General Assembly — which maintains the state's current property tax system after enshrining it in the Indiana Constitution in 2010 — to find ways of reducing property taxes while preserving basic constituent services.
Indiana's lieutenant governor takes over as governor on an acting or permanent basis if the state's chief executive is unable to fulfill his or her duties due to disability or death. He or she also serves as secretary of agriculture, and oversees the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs, and the Indiana Destination Development Corp.
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