Farm Bureau Pitches Property Tax Plan
Published: Friday, March 28, 2025
Indiana Farm Bureau members had their talking points ready when they came to the Statehouse to meet with lawmakers last Wednesday. They also brought the food.
Gov. Mike Braun stopped by briefly to chat with INFB President Randy Kron and other members. He eventually made his way to the buffet table, where he was overheard to say to an aid, "When you go to a Farm Bureau event, you know it's going to be a real breakfast."
Nick Wenning of Decatur County had the governor's ear for a couple minutes. He used the opportunity to talk about property taxes.
"We've got to get some relief," Wenning told this reporter. "Property taxes have skyrocketed along with everything else."
Wenning pointed out that farmers pay the highest percentage of property taxes among any class of taxpayers. He told the governor that input prices are high and crop prices are low. That combination means farmers can't bear the average annual 20% increase in property taxes.
"Corn and bean (prices) are low right now and every input is high," he said. "Fuel has given us a little relief but not much. Everything has gone up and we're getting less out of our crop than we were two or three years ago."
Wenning said the governor told him, "Stick in there. We're fighting on your behalf. Talk to your legislators, because they're the ones who are going to make the final decision."
Kron and Andy Tauer, public policy director, shared that farmers are seeing "substantial" increases in property taxes. Kron said INFB members were there to "make sure legislators understand the problem."
Tauer said the governor campaigned on reducing property taxes, so in one sense, the Farm Bureau crowd was preaching to a one-man choir. Still, he said Braun's legislative approach is "a little different" than previous administrations.
Braun's signature piece of legislation, SB 1, has moved to the House, where lawmakers are trying to strike a balance between providing some relief while also pleasing cities that rely on property tax revenue for essential services, like police, fire and libraries.
"That's going to be a fine line to thread," Tauer said.
Theresa Gottbrath of Washington County also spent a few minutes chatting with the governor. She lives on a small farm with 1,200 acres.
"We need lower taxes," she told the Exchange. "We need it to be more equitable amongst not only people that farm but also homeowners. There's a cap for homeowners. That's unfair for the farmer. We rarely ever reach the cap."
She and others want lawmakers to change the assessment formula. Currently, the state uses a six-year formula based on land and crop values, among other things. But the formula still shows the effects of high crop values from a few years ago.
As State Rep. Kendell Culp (R-Rensselaer) put it, "That time frame is not reflective of where we're at today in the ag economy."
Culp said Farm Bureau wants to drop the two highest years from the six-year formula. Members were also advocating for one other change.
"We talk a lot about changing the capitalization rate from 8% to 10%," Culp said. "The Senate's version is 9%. I have a bill that would raise it to 10%. That turns the tide and starts to bring that assessed value down."
As the legislative calendar winds down, Culp said we're nearing the time frame when push comes to shove. He said there are still major differences between the property tax bills being discussed in the House, Senate and the governor's office. Everyone seems to be for some form of relief, but not everyone agrees how much. There is also pushback from cities and municipalities.
Braun campaigned on the idea of reducing property taxes.
"The governor wants to deliver on that promise," Culp said.
As the legislative session careens to a close, Culp said he is hoping that farmers will have a seat at the table.
"Otherwise, it's easy to give all the relief to the homeowners," he said. "Those are the voters."
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