INDIANA FISCAL POLICY INSTITUTE |
IN THE NEWS
Analysis: Latest Indiana budget drops spending 7% — with cuts ‘telling’Indiana Capital Chronicle Indiana’s latest biennial budget — the first under new Gov. Mike Braun — effectively lowers state spending by 7% after inflation and an across-the-board holdback policy, the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute found in a Monday budget analysis. The $54.6 billion House Enrolled Act 1001, approved in May, spends 3% more than its $53 billion predecessor from 2023. But the state’s spending power has sunk 5% since then. And, the Office of Management and Budget was authorized to make the State Budget Agency withhold an additional 5% from what most agencies were allotted. Those two factors will “result in a dramatic decrease in actual spending” compared to the last budget, according to the independent, Indianapolis-based institute. Some agencies will feel the strain more than others. | How did we get here? Historical analysis of property tax reform seeks answersIndiana Capital Chronicle October 1, 2024 A flurry of property tax proposals geared toward reform following an uptick in prices closely mirrors trends from the last fifty years in which such increases bring systemic changes, according to new analysis from Larry DeBoer, a retired agricultural economics professor from Purdue University. DeBoer’s analysis, which spans the last 50 years of the state’s property tax policy, detailed several points of — at times — reactive policies from Indiana’s elected leaders over recent decades followed by stagnant periods with little change. “In a sense, an emergency happens and we react. But in another sense, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” DeBoer said. “But when it does break, boy we try to fix it as fast as we can.” The new research, published with the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute, was unveiled at a joint event Monday with Prosperity Indiana in advance of the 2025 legislative session along with a second paper analyzing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Indiana’s property tax. DeBoer’s presentation was followed by Neva Butkus, with the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, and Chris Watts, with the Indiana Association of REALTORS. |
