Lesley Stedman Weidenbener has been fighting an uphill battle over the last few weeks to educate folks on the details of Mitch's property tax reform proposal. She logs another tax entry this morning, trying to muddle her way through fact and fiction in order to paint a more realistic picture of just what this package might do.
Much of the savings would benefit taxpayers in a handful of counties. In fact, about half of it would go to property owners in Lake County, where tax bills are especially high.
The caps also reduce the amount of revenue available to local governments and schools. So $703 million in savings means $703 million in lost revenue. Daniels insists that local governments and schools can easily deal with that problem by simply slowing their increases in spending. He insists the reductions aren't really cuts.
Many local officials, though, say the lost revenue will require them to increase income taxes. Some lawmakers -- including House Speaker Pat Bauer, D-South Bend -- think that's likely, as well.
The governor's analysis of $1.95 in savings for $1 in tax increases doesn't take any such increases into account.
Also, the analysis is really only good for 2009. That's because in 2010, some less restrictive property tax caps are already set to go into effect. In fact, about half of the estimated savings from the tax caps will occur with no change in law.
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