Property tax crises; we're not alone.

As some of you may know I am a member of the American Legion. In this month’s American Legion Magazine there is an article titled “The Property Tax Rebellion.” I thought that it was quite interesting for a couple of different reasons.
First, it let me know that we are not alone in dealing with the property tax issue. Quite often we are working in an information vacuum when it comes to Northwest Indiana. But other states are having the same troubles as Indiana.
Second, it discusses something that the local politicos and their cheerleaders ignore or only pay lip service to; imposed “property tax relief without spending discipline is just a shell game.” It sounds obvious, but like anything obvious in the region, it cannot be discussed dispassionately. Think about it like a math problem: 1(property tax) plus 1(other revenue) equals 2, simple right? But if gov’t wants to spend 4 and 1(property tax) is a fixed number then 1(other revenue) must be raised to make up the difference. Or, as was done recently, costs are shifted to other entities which increase fees. Was the property tax reduced? Yes. But were gov’t costs reduced? Absolutely not.
What about the assessment process? The article again makes what should be an obvious point, “The assessment process makes its own unpredictable contribution to Americas’ property-tax dilemma…Because assessors are empowered to determine home value, the process is always subjective and can raise privacy issues.” Think about it, the process is subjective, meaning it’s an opinion that can take time and money to correct when wrong.
The article also brings up something I never thought of, “An often overlooked disadvantage of shifting away from the property tax is a possible loss of federal tax deductions.” Why? “Because, in addition to permitting property-tax deductions, the federal 1040 form permits one other state-tax deduction: income taxes paid or sales taxes paid, but not both.” Now, I haven’t done the math, but property-tax relief can end up costing you more in federal taxes!
The article concludes with what is obvious to anyone outside of government, “The best way to bring about substantial tax relief is to reduce government spending.”
It’s so easy a child could understand it, and a necessary step to move Hammond forward.