By Jon Seidel, Post-Tribune
jseidel@post-trib.com
Countless questions were lobbed last week at the man who wrote the law on Indiana's new property tax caps.
Among them was an old courtroom trick from Sen. Lindel Hume, D-Princeton. He asked Republican Sen. Luke Kenley of Noblesville on the floor of the Indiana Senate, "Have you quit beating your wife?"
There's no good way to answer that, and Hume told a chuckling Kenley not to bother. Hume was making a point echoed by several cap opponents as they looked forward to a possible referendum to add the caps to the state constitution.
"It has a lot to do with how you ask a question," Hume said.
Before the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives approved the constitutional caps Monday, a member of its minority party asked the same question.
"Can anybody show me the wording that the people are going to vote upon?" Rep. Thomas Saunders, R-Lewisville, said.
Normally, Kenley said, it'd be left up to the Election Commission. But leaving nothing to chance, he's authored another bill so the General Assembly can decide for itself what the referendum will say.
For now, it's long and clunky. It starts like this:
"Shall Article 10, Section 1 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana be amended to: (1) limit a taxpayers property tax liability to 1 percent of the gross assessed value of homestead property ... "
It goes on, and it points out that exceptions are being made for Lake and St. Joseph counties.
The bill hasn't earned a hearing yet in front of the tax and fiscal policy committee where it has been assigned, so it's subject to change. And it isn't clear how much of a debate this will turn out to be in a short session. Opponents brought the subject up repeatedly last week, but they likely did so to add another layer to their argument.
They also say it isn't clear what the caps will do to local governments. They say Republicans are writing a 1-2-3 "slogan" into the constitution by limiting property tax bills to 1 percent of assessed value for homeowners, 2 percent for landlords and 3 percent for commercial properties. And they're saying the caps could shift the tax burden in a way that could actually increase some people's tax bills.
Whatever they're saying, it isn't working. The caps are projected to save taxpayers $465 million this year. They were held up last year in the Democrat-controlled House, but this year that chamber swiftly endorsed them.
So when this year's session ends, the next step could be campaigns for and against the referendum. Porter County Commissioner Bob Harper hasn't waited to start his campaign in favor.
Wording important
These referendums sometimes mean careful reading is needed by voters, though. When township assessors were subject to a vote in 2008, this was the question:
"Should the assessing duties of the elected township assessor in the township be transferred to the county assessor?"
The question required a negative response to vote in favor of an assessor. Politicians had to campaign to make sure voters knew what to do.
"It's kind of like a trick question," Saunders told his colleagues last week, referring to that question.
Tax caps might not be the only topic subject to a referendum this fall. A bill passed Thursday by the House of Representatives would ask voters if they want to keep their township trustees and boards. It isn't clear if that bill will make it through the Indiana Senate with the same wording.
Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary, voted against it partially because referendum campaigns aren't free.
"I'm opposed to it because of the cost it takes to alert people that the issue is on the ballot," Smith said. "The cost that it takes to educate people, especially depending on the wording on the ballot, of how they ought to vote."
The tax cap referendum isn't a done deal yet, but it's darn close. A House bill that would make it happen needs just one more vote from the Senate. Don't expect a lot of hemming and hawing there.
House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said Friday he didn't expect the caps to move so quickly through the Indiana General Assembly. Depending on how feisty state politicians are feeling, the debate might not be over.