No More Property Taxes?

EVANSVILLE - If you're age 65 or older, how would you like to never pay property taxes again?

It's not just a wish. An Indiana lawmaker is trying to make it happen.

Imagine that you own a home your family has lived in for 30 years. You've paid your mortgage off, saved for retirement... but by the time you get through medical bills, utilities, food, and taxes; your savings isn't cutting it.

"It was getting so oppressive to a point that people couldn't afford their homes. They eventually get to pay their mortgage off, but you never pay property taxes off," says Indiana State Representative, (D) Dave Cheatham.

That's what led Indiana State Rep Dave Cheatham to introduce House Bill 2 into the Indiana legislature.

It would call for this: once a person turns 65 and has paid Indiana property taxes for at least ten years, they would never again have to pay property taxes on their primary home.

"You can finally own your home free and clear of any obligation from the state for the rest of your life," Cheatham says.

The bill caught the eye of Vanderburgh County Assessor Jonathan Weaver.

"People are moving back in with their adult children, their income's not keeping up with their expenses," Weaver says.

But Weaver has emailed local state legislatures asking them to add veterans to the bill, making them exempt from paying property taxes too.

"How many times do you hear there's not adequate healthcare, that families are being forced out of their homes due to foreclosure, they don't have a job to come home to," says Weaver about veterans.

So how much would this cost the state in lost property tax revenue?

"I had a fiscal study done last year to measure the effect of the bill," Cheatham says. "It was approximately 400 million dollars statewide."

"In 2006, seniors made up about 14 percent of our taxpayers," Weaver says.

With a 28 billion dollar state budget, Cheatham says 400 million is an amount the state could come up with from cuts in other areas.

Source: http://www.abc25.com/dsp_story.cfm?storyid=10793&RequestTimeout=500