Property tax cap survives House vote

[IndianaGreen]

Anything supported by Brian Bosma is guaranteed to be a bad idea. I expect more cuts in public services and schools to be the ultimate outcome of this legislation.

Property tax cap survives House vote

The way is now clear for a proposed constitutional amendment capping property taxes to survive this legislative session unchanged so that voters can deliver the final verdict in November.

Two changes to the constitutional amendment were easily defeated today in the Indiana House, and a third withdrawn. The House will vote on the amendment Monday, with passage likely there and in the Senate. Voters will have the final say in the November general election on whether the caps, already in state law, should be enshrined in the state constitution.

The Indiana General Assembly approved of the amendment in 2008, but the constitutional process required a second vote by this legislature.

Republicans argued that if the proposal passed and there were changes in the wording, the clock would restart on the legislative process — meaning voters could not reconsider the amendment until 2012. If the amendment fails to pass this legislature — something no one expects to happen — that vote would have been delayed until 2014 at the earliest.

After today’s session, House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, said that moving the proposed amendment forward with no changes was “a huge victory for the taxpayers of the state of Indiana, one we’ve worked for for years. Today was really the moment of truth on this. Without any of the amendments being adopted today, I think that this guarantees that the constitutional amendment will be adopted by the House and by the Senate, in very quick fashion.”

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100107/LOCAL/100107043/Property-tax-cap-survives-House-vote