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Phase 1:Governance(counties, gross assessed value, 2007) (counties, gross assessed value per capita, 2007) (townships, gross assess value, 2007) (townships, gross assessed value per capita, 2007) “Gross assessed value” is the assessment placed on a property before exemptions and deductions are subtracted. It is a measure of the potentially taxable property wealth in a jurisdiction. Deductions subtract a large amount from this potentially taxable wealth. Deductions for homeowners are particularly large. The average county has a gross assessed value of $4.8 billion. This figure is pulled upward by a few very large counties—70 of 92 counties have smaller than average gross assessed values. The median or middle gross assessed value is $2.2 billion. Ten counties have gross assessed values greater than $10 billion; 15 counties have gross assessed values less than $1 billion. The township map shows more detail about where gross assessed value is located. The median township has a gross assessed value of $114 million. Most local government services are demanded by people, and are paid for in large part by taxing property. Gross assessed value per capita shows how much potentially taxable property is available to support services provided to each person. The average and median values for both counties and townships are between $60,000 and $70,000 per person. (local option income taxes (LOIT), 1/1/2008) (EDIT for inventory tax homestead credit, 1/1/2008) (new 2007 LOIT adoptions, 1/1/2008) (body making LOIT adoption decisions) (total LOIT rate, 1/1/2008) (LOIT revenue at 1%, per capita) Indiana allows its counties to adopt several local option income taxes (LOIT). There are three basic types, the County Adjusted Gross Income Tax (CAGIT), the County Option Income Tax (COIT), and the Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT). CAGIT delivers revenue for property tax relief to all local units, and added spending for local units other than school corporations. COIT and EDIT revenue is mostly used for added spending, COIT for all units but school corporations, EDIT for counties, cities and towns. Counties may not adopt CAGIT and COIT together, but may adopt EDIT in addition to one of the other two taxes. All but one county (Lake) have at least one of the local option income taxes. New options have recently become available. Indiana eliminated its property tax on inventories between 2003 and 2007. This shifted property tax payments to other taxpayers. The state allowed counties to adopt an added EDIT tax to fund homestead credits, which offset this tax increase for homeowners. 42 counties have adopted this tax. In 2007 the state allowed counties to adopt an income tax to freeze civil government property tax levies for operating costs, another to deliver property tax relief directly, and a third for added spending on public safety. By January 2008 14 counties had adopted at least one of these taxes. The decision making body for these local option income taxes depends on the type of taxes that have already been adopted, and on the population makeup of the county. In counties with CAGIT, the county council makes LOIT adoption decisions. In counties with COIT, a “COIT council” makes the decisions. The COIT council is made up of the councils of the county and the cities and towns in the county, with votes allocated based on population. The county represents people outside cities or towns. In some COIT counties the county council has the majority of votes, in others one large city has the majority, and in others a combination of units is needed to adopt a LOIT. In counties with EDIT, either the county council or the COIT council may act. The county councils make the LOIT decisions in 70 of 92 counties. In counties with an income tax, tax rates vary from 0.1% (in Vermillion) to 3.13% (in Pulaski). The median rate is 1.25%. Twelve counties have rates at 2% or above, and another 12 have rates at 1% or lower. Counties vary widely in the amount of taxable income per person. The median county raises $170 per person, with a 1% tax rate. In 16 counties a 1% rate raises more than $200 per person. In 12 counties a 1% rate raises less than $140 per person. |
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