SESSION UPDATE

TAX INCREMENT FINANCING

• HB 1085 would require incremental revenue from TIF to be passed to school corporations in the allocation area to be used for career and technical education (CTE) programs for all new TIFs going forward. It would also add a member of the local school board to the redevelopment commission as a voting member. It also requires revenue in excess of 200% of the debt service obligations of the RDC to be immediately spent, saved for a specific infrastructure project, or passed back to the underlying units.
• This week the bill was amended to reduce the amount of automatic passthrough to underlying school corporations. Aim continues to oppose this bill because it would still significantly restrict the flexibility of TIF and its ability to effectively finance large economic development projects.
• HB 1085, authored by Rep. Bob Cherry (R-Greenfield), was amended on second reading last Thursday and will return next week for a full vote of the House.

PUBLICATION OF LOCAL NOTICE

• HB 1438 would allow local governments to publish notices online through their websites instead of being required to post to local papers, a process that can be costly for many municipalities.
• Modernizing the public notice system and providing cost relief to municipal members has been a long-standing Aim legislative priority on which some progress has been made in recent years. Aim will continue to support efforts like HB 1438 to modernize the public notice system into the 21st century.
• HB 1438, authored by Rep. Doug Miller (R-Elkhart), will be heard next week in the House Government and Regulatory Reform committee.

PUBLIC HEALTH

• The recommendations from the Governor’s Public Health commission exist in two bills moving through the session, SB 4 and HB 1001 (the budget). This week, SB 4 was amended in the Appropriations committee to require local health departments to annually apply for additional state money using local spending plans that have to be approved by the State Department of Health and reviewed by the Budget committee.
• This is different from the process outlined in HB 1001 where counties could simply adopt an ordinance accepting the funding and the funding would be required by statute to be distributed to them.
• The two versions of the public health funding mechanisms represent an ongoing negotiation among the Governor and legislative leadership about the direction the public health system needs to go. Aim will continue to monitor these changes as SB 4 and HB 1001 continue to move forward. HB 1001, the budget bill, is scheduled to be presented in the Ways and Means committee next Monday where we will see the House version of the public health provisions and how they compare with the Senate’s SB 4.

RESIDENTIAL ASSESSMENTS

• HB 1499 is the ongoing, session-long effort to respond to rising home prices and assessed values that are expected to result in higher property tax bills in 2023. This bill currently provides additional property tax limits in most aspects of the property tax system for the next two years starting in 2024 including: lowering the 1% homestead property tax cap to 0.95%, capping levy growth at 3% per year, increasing the standard and supplemental homestead deductions, and causing any project that pushed debt service levies over 0.4% into the controlled projects statute that triggers referendum to approve the project. It also allows counties to voluntarily provide property tax credits or rebates in 2023.
• Aim continues to have concerns about the scope of the reforms in this bill, particularly the ability of counties to unilaterally provide property tax rebates without input from underlying units and the long-term effects of limiting levy growth. As this conversation progresses throughout the second half of session we will continue to have conversations with House and Senate fiscal leadership about how to limit the negative impacts of property tax relief on municipalities.
• HB 1499, authored by Rep. Jeff Thompson (R-Lizton) passed through second reading and will be voted on next week by the entire House.

“You will likely see [HB 1085] pass out of the House next week. It’s very important for us as this bill moves over to the Senate to show a good, strong set of no votes and comments at the mic during the debate so we can have more leverage in the Senate. Don’t be discouraged.”

– Matt Greller, Aim Chief Executive Officer