Online tool measures referendum impacts

INDIANAPOLIS – With the November election just over two months away, property taxpayers in Perry County may be considering the effects of the proposed referenda for two local school corporations: Tell City-Troy Township Schools and Cannelton City Schools. The Department of Local Government Finance last week announced that it had launched a Web site that allows residents to determine the impacts on their pocketbooks by using the department’s online tool at www.in.gov/dlgf/8789.htm.

The calculator, created specifically to gauge the effect of proposed referenda in the state, calculates the impact of the referendum throughout the length of the proposal and gives users a maximum property tax bill estimate based on the assessed value entered.
“This tool can assist taxpayers with making an informed decision about how the proposal will affect their property-tax bill in the coming years,” DLGF Commissioner Brian Bailey said.

Property taxes that are approved by voters in a referendum are not subject to the property tax caps. Therefore, any approved referendum may result in a property-tax bill that exceeds the caps of 1 percent of assessed value for homesteads (owner-occupied residence), 2 percent for other residential properties and farmland and 3 percent for all other property.

Taxpayers will need their property’s assessed value and deductions, if any, to use the tool. If their assessed value is unknown, they may use the Department’s Assessed Value Lookup tool, available at www .in.gov/dlgf/4931.htm.

Estimates provided by the referendum calculator are projections only and should not be taken as a statement of true tax liability, the DLGF said in a news release announcing the online tool. Spending decisions by local leaders could change the financial impacts in coming years.
Cannelton City Schools is seeking voter approval for a property-tax increase of up to 41 cents per $100 of assessed valuation that would help cover budget shortfalls.

Tell City-Troy Township Schools is seeking voter approval to spend up to $6 million for construction at Tell City Junior-Senior High School. That work would add up to 16.3 cents per $100 of assessed valuation to the school district’s tax levy.