How the Senate tax relief blueprint approved Tuesday squares up with the plan Gov. Mitch Daniels released last fall.
IMPACT
Daniels: 33 percent cut in homeowner property taxes.
Senate: Cut homeowner taxes by about a third, or perhaps in half if counties OK income taxes.
TAX HIKES
SALES
Daniels: Penny state sales tax hike, from 6 percent to 7 percent.
Senate: Same.
INCOME
Daniels: County option taxes available as "last resort."
Senate: Counties encouraged to adopt 0.5 percent income tax for property tax relief. If they do, they could impose 0.25 percent income tax to fund public safety -- police, fire, etc.
CIRCUIT BREAKER
Daniels: Constitutionally cap tax bills at 1 percent of assessed value for homeowners, 2 percent for rental properties and 3 percent for businesses, beginning in 2009.
Senate: Phase in the cap over two years. The circuit breaker would be 1.5 percent next year for homeowners, 2.5 percent for landlords and 3 percent for businesses. Caps would go to 1, 2 and 3 percent in 2010.
ASSESSMENT
Daniels: Get rid of all 1,100 elected assessors -- have each county appoint one assessor.
Senate: Late amendment would let voter decide whether to oust township assessors.
CONSTRUCTION
Daniels: Let voters decide via referendum whether costly school and local government projects go forward.
Lawmakers: The same, but referendum-approved projects would not be subject to tax caps.
COST SHIFTS
Daniels: Have state government assume $3 billion in child welfare and school operating costs.
Senate : Have state pick up about $2.5 billion in school and welfare expense. But instead of assuming $500 million in school transportation costs, state would take on $340 million in juvenile incarceration costs, teacher pension bonds and municipal police and fire pensions for employees hired before 1977.
SPENDING CONTROLS
Daniels: Limit local government spending increases to annual growth in personal income (2.9 percent in Lake, 4.6 percent in Porter).
Senate: No hard spending caps, but repeal 18 property tax levy appeals local government now use to boost spending, including the annexation appeal Valparaiso used last year.
SCHOOLS
Daniels: Statewide, schools would lose about $170 million a year to his tax caps.
Senate: State would spend $50 million a year to offset school cuts caused by phased-in caps.
The Senate plan would phase in the constitutional tax caps sought by Gov. Mitch Daniels. The so-called circuit breaker would be set at 1.5 percent of a property's assessed value next year for homeowners, 2.5 percent for landlords and 3 percent for businesses. The caps would go to 1, 2 and 3 percent respectively in 2010. The circuit breaker provides relief by restricting the property tax revenue that flows to local government and schools, which statewide would lose an estimated $342 million statewide next year and $619 million in 2010.