BY PATRICK GUINANE, Times of Northwest Indiana
pguinane@nwitimes.com
INDIANAPOLIS | Gov. Mitch Daniels spent 90 minutes answers question today during a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on his plan to ease property taxes.
In his first appearance before a legislative panel, the Republican governor said he wants to free taxpayers from a system that is "rigged" against them. He said local spending debates "should start not with what government says its wants, but what with what taxpayers say they can afford."
Daniels has presented lawmakers with a plan to impose strict limits on local government spending, require referendum votes on capital construction projects, shift welfare and school costs to the state and get rid of township assessors. He also wants to cap property tax bills at 1 percent of assessed value for homeowners, 2 percent for landlords and 3 percent for businesses.
The proposed tax caps would force more than $600 million in local spending cuts statewide, with Lake County alone facing more than $200 million in budget losses.
"Lake County is a situation all by itself," Daniels told lawmakers.
After the hearing, the governor stressed that the spending cuts would be most severe in areas where property taxes are the highest. He said that only shows that Lake County homeowners have the greatest need for the relief offered by his tax caps.
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