Indiana uses an assessment standard for property taxes called “market value in use.” The assessment is the value of the property decided by the county assessor for tax purposes. It’s a prediction of what the house could sell for, on the open market, if it continues in its current use. How much would a stranger pay for your house, if they want to live in it, and not convert it to some other purpose? Purdue ag economist, Larry DeBoer, explains.
Jun 26, 2025•6 min
Sometimes taxes cost more to collect than the revenue they generate. Back in 2015, the Indiana General Assembly recognized one example. Purdue ag economist, Larry DeBoer, explains the personal property tax exception and how it's evolved over the past decade.
May 20, 2025•6 min
The governor signed Senate Bill 1 into law on April 15, 2025. The property tax impact of this bill has been talked about a lot. But the bill also makes big changes in the second most important local tax — the local income tax, or LIT. Purdue ag economist, Larry DeBoer, explains.
Apr 23, 2025•6 min
Each spring the county treasurer reminds us just how complicated the Indiana Property Tax is, by mailing form TS-1, “Taxpayer and Property Information.” It’s a one-page summary of how they get from the assessed value of your house to the amount you owe on your property tax bill. Listen to learn about what's coming to your mailbox soon!
Mar 25, 2025•6 min
The Indiana General Assembly is debating property tax reform. Senate Bill 1 is a focus of the debate. The original bill introduced in January included the new Governor’s campaign promises for property tax relief. Get insights from Ag Economist, Larry Deboer.
Feb 19, 2025•6 min
Property taxes on farmland went up a lot in 2023 and 2024. They’ll be going up a lot in 2025 too. The reason is the rise in the base rate of farmland. The reason that’s been rising is the pandemic. Economist, Larry Deboer, gives the details in this month's Capital Comments.
Jan 23, 2025•6 min
The holiday season is here, and with it a chance to read or watch Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol . Listen to learn the strange connection between Ebenezer Scrooge, "surplus population" and British economist Rev. Thomas Malthus. Purdue ag economist, Larry DeBoer, explains.
Nov 26, 2024•6 min
Suppose we want to cut property taxes for homeowners. How could we do that? Purdue ag economist, Larry DeBoer, explains.
Oct 23, 2024•6 min
Last week the Federal Reserve changed its interest rate policy. What did the Fed do, and why? Purdue ag economist, Larry DeBoer, explains.
Sep 25, 2024•6 min
How do we know if a recession has started? Sometimes it’s obvious. In March 2020 during the pandemic emergency, weekly applications for unemployment insurance jumped from 200,000 to 6 million. There was no doubt we were in a recession. More often, it’s hard to know if a recession has begun. Ag Economist, Larry Deboer, explains.
Aug 29, 2024•6 min
Closeout day in the Indiana State House is near and dear to the number crunchers among us. That’s the day the State Comptroller and the State Budget Agency tell us about revenues, expenditures and balances for the just-ended fiscal year.
Jul 24, 2024•7 min
Ag economist, Larry DeBoer, breaks down the ups and down of Indiana's property tax policy.
Jun 26, 2024•6 min
Purdue agricultural economist, Larry DeBoer, posits what could happen to Social Security in this episode of Capital Comments.
May 23, 2024•6 min
It was printed in bold letters on the front of the envelope. “Open Immediately. Property Tax Notice Enclosed.” It was the annual property tax bill on my house! I remembered last year: a jump in my tax bill of 31 percent. I tore open the envelope and found the page of numbers showing how my tax bill was calculated. The taxable assessed value of my home went up only 3 percent this year. Last year the increase was 35 percent. My tax rate went down by almost 5 percent. The tax bill is the assessed v...
Apr 24, 2024•6 min
Let’s think about the economy in the simplest possible way. People use tools to make goods and services, which other people buy. Gross domestic product is our measure of the value of goods and services. It grew 2.5 percent above inflation in 2023. We can use the simple view of the economy to figure out why GDP grew this much, and what will make it grow in the future.
Mar 21, 2024•6 min
Last year Indiana homeowners were hit with property tax bill increases averaging 17 percent, an extraordinary increase. Will it happen again in 2024? Let’s compare 2023 to what we know about 2024 so far, and take a guess.
Feb 22, 2024•7 min
The memo was posted at the end of December, on the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance website. It announced the base rate for farmland at $2,280 per acre for property taxes in 2025. That’s up 20 percent from this year’s $1,900. It will be the third straight year of big increases. The base rate rose 16 percent from $1,290 in 2022 to $1,500 for 2023, and 27 percent to $1,900 for 2024. What’s the base rate, and why is it going up so much? Economist Larry DeBoer explains.
Jan 24, 2024•6 min
Consumer price index Inflation ran at 2.1 percent per year from 1997 to 2019. Then came the pandemic recession and recovery. Inflation dropped to 1.3 percent in 2020—including 3 months of deflation, when prices were falling—then soared to 8 percent in 2022, the highest inflation rate in 40 years. The peak month was in June that year, when consumer prices averaged 8.9 percent higher than in June of 2021. Since then inflation has come down a lot. As of November 2023, prices were 3.1 percent higher...
Dec 18, 2023•6 min
The second installment for 2023 property taxes was due earlier this month. If you’re a homeowner, either you sent a check to your county treasurer or your bank paid the tax out of escrow. Homeowner tax bills were especially painful in 2023. Statewide average homestead tax bills went up 17 percent over 2022, a much bigger increase than in years past. So we wonder, now that 2023 is done, what will happen to tax bills in 2024?
Nov 20, 2023•6 min
Election Day is coming up, and 12 Indiana school districts have put property tax referendums on the ballot. Voters who own homes will want to know, “How much will I pay if the referendum passes?” Here’s how to make a good guess.
Oct 25, 2023•7 min
Indiana has an individual income tax to help pay for state services. Indiana raises about $8 billion a year from its state income tax, which is 36% of total general fund revenues. Most states have income taxes, but eight states do not. Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington (state) and Wyoming do not collect individual income taxes to fund their state governments. How do they get by? What do they do instead?
Sep 20, 2023•6 min
Inflation is falling, and we’re not in recession. How can that be? Economist, Larry Deboer, provides insight.
Aug 23, 2023•6 min
The Indiana fiscal new year is upon us, having begun on July 1. The big New Year’s celebration happened on July 13, with the “closeout” announcement. That’s the state’s accounting of revenues, spending and balances as of the end of fiscal 2023. The good news: Indiana has $2.9 billion in the bank, 13.6 percent of the general fund budget. That’s enough to cover cash flow and most shortfalls in revenue below expectations. That amount takes some explaining though, because a year ago balances were $6...
Jul 26, 2023•6 min
Inflation is coming down. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which measures the Consumer Price Index reported the 12-month inflation rate for May at 4.0 percent, down a whole point from the 5.0 percent rate in April. Inflation had peaked in June 2022 at 8.9 percent, which was the highest inflation rate in 40 years. Larry Deboer gives his analysis of what it all means.
Jun 26, 2023•6 min
Indiana homeowner tax bills increased 17 percent on average this year, the largest increase in years. Other property owners saw big increases too. The pandemic caused property values to rise in 2021, which increased property assessments in 2022. Tax bills in 2023 were based on those assessments. Purdue Extension ag economist, Larry Deboer, breaks it all down.
May 23, 2023•6 min
On April 19, 2023, in the Indiana Statehouse in the city of Indianapolis, one-point-five billion dollars appeared out of thin air. The state revenue forecast upped its prediction of revenues for the rest of this fiscal year and the coming biennium, 2023-25, by $1.5 billion over the prediction from last December. What happened? Larry Deboer explains.
Apr 27, 2023•7 min
Indiana county treasurers soon will mail property tax bills to owners of homes, rental housing, farmland, and businesses. Most will see big increases in the assessed value of their property. This will mean big increases in tax payments. The increase is a legacy of the pandemic. Property values rose a lot in 2021. Home prices increased as mortgage interest rates fell and people demanded more space to work at home. Farmland prices increased because corn and soybean prices spiked, making land owner...
Mar 22, 2023•6 min
Utilities are building a lot of solar energy projects in Indiana. Fields of solar panels will become a common part of our landscape. This may help avert some consequences of climate change on the planet. But what are the local consequences?
Feb 21, 2023•6 min
Farmland assessments for property taxes are going up. So are home, rental housing and business assessments. Property tax misery has a lot of company. Farmland assessments start with a base rate per acre. The base rate is a statewide number calculated each year by the Department of Local Government Finance.
Jan 25, 2023•6 min
Thursday, December 15, was a much-anticipated day at the Indiana Statehouse. It was Revenue Forecast Day, when the General Assembly heard the prediction of how much revenue will be available for state spending during fiscal years 2024 and 2025. The legislature will pass a two-year budget, in the session starting in January, based on these revenue estimates.
Dec 21, 2022•6 min
