Property Taxes

Real Property Tax Relief

They called it property tax relief. But when you look at the fine print, families with modest homes might actually pay more. Our schools could lose three-quarters of a billion dollars. And the fix? Raise your income taxes instead. That is not relief — that is a shell game. Real relief means cutting costs families actually feel, not giving $2 million tax breaks to big corporations.

The Problem

Governor Braun's SEA 1 property tax reform is marketed as saving homeowners $1.3 billion by 2028 and farmers $116 million through 2027. But the details tell a different story.

The law raises the business personal property tax exemption from $80,000 to $2 million — a massive break for large companies. It creates a new homestead credit capped at $300. And it shifts costs onto local governments that are already stretched thin.

Purdue economist Larry DeBoer's analysis is blunt: "Taxes in SEA 1 are shifting to big businesses with lots of personal property, and to rural homeowners with very low value homes." If you own a home valued at around $80,000, you may actually pay more under this law — because the phase-out of the standard deduction reduces your proportional benefit.

The impact on schools is staggering. Indiana school corporations face $744.4 million in projected losses over three years. That is money for teachers, textbooks, buses, and building maintenance. Counties can try to offset the losses by raising local income taxes, but that is just trading one tax for another. Indiana's average local income tax rate has already risen from 1.4% in 2014 to 1.72% in 2025.

Rural county officials testified to the legislature that they have already tried consolidating services and applying for every grant available. There is little room to cut further. Right here in our district, a legislative update event at Crawfordsville Middle School reportedly turned into a pointed discussion about childcare, property taxes, and the strain state policy is placing on the community.

Where Kelsey Stands

Kelsey believes property tax relief should actually relieve the burden on working families and homeowners — not create new problems while solving old ones. She opposes any tax reform that shifts costs from large corporations onto families with modest homes and underfunded schools.

What She'll Fight For

• Protect homeowners with modest-value homes from tax increases disguised as relief
• Defend school funding so property tax reform does not come at the expense of our kids' education
• Oppose shifting tax burdens from corporations onto working families through local income tax hikes
• Demand transparency in how property tax changes affect real families in real communities — not just statewide averages
• Support truly fair tax reform that asks everyone to pay their share, not just the people who can least afford it

"If you have to read the fine print to figure out whether your taxes went up or down, that is not relief. Our families deserve a tax system that is simple, fair, and honest — not one that gives $2 million breaks to corporations and sends the bill to your local school."