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A new gubernatorial proposal from hopeful Eric Doden takes aim at property taxes for senior Hoosiers, as unveiled in his most recent ad released on Thursday.
Doden, a businessman from Fort Wayne, pointed to the sharp percent increase in property taxes in recent years as home prices surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to an analysis by the Association of Indiana Counties and Policy Analytics, the gross assessed value of homes jumped 16.5% on average between 2022 and 2023 and property taxes increased by 18.2% on average.
“Let’s rein in property taxes and cap them for seniors. So they can stay in their own homes where they belong. That’s good for everyone, except the career politicians,” Doden said in the ad. “They’ve proven they can’t fix the problem, but I will.”
Legislators have tweaked the formula used to calculate property taxes in back-to-back sessions, but struggle to balance the interests of homeowners against the funding needs of local government units like schools.
The gubernatorial proposal from Doden zeroes in on seniors, who often live on fixed incomes and struggle to keep up with rising costs. He suggested creating a property tax relief fund for “eligible Hoosier seniors, a criteria he said would be crafted with the help of the General Assembly.
“Eric has been clear that one of his guiding principles as governor will be protecting the vulnerable. He plans to work with the General Assembly to set eligibility requirements for this credit that ensure senior homeowners are already taking a homestead deduction and their annual income would not grow sufficiently to cover the increase,” the Doden campaign told the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
The fund would freeze their payments and defer increases until the seniors sell their home or encounter another eligible “liquidity event.” He said the fund would also support local government units “to ensure priority services like police and fire protection remain fully funded until repayment is made by the homeowner.”
It is unclear how much money is in question.
In response to follow-up questions, the campaign emphasized that seniors will not be totally exempt from paying property taxes.
“This is a cap, not a full credit, so senior homeowners will still meet their current obligation, and the state would utilize the surplus to bridge the period between the implementation of the cap and the sale of the home or other qualifying liquidity event,” the campaign said.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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