Charlestown mayor concerned about impact of property tax bill on city funding

CHARLESTOWN, Ind. (WDRB) -- A new property tax bill is still stirring debate across Indiana four months after it was passed.

Charlestown Mayor Treva Hodges has been vocal against the bill, saying the new law will impact city staffing, city parks and community events.

"If the state's telling us that we have no funding, then we're going to have to make a decision on what gets cut," Hodges said.

Senate Bill 1, which passed in April, is designed to lower property taxes and prevent future tax hikes for Hoosiers. It provides homeowners a credit of up to 10%, capped at 300%. But Hodges says it's not that simple.

"It was advertised as property tax relief for homeowners, but what it equates to is a restructuring of how municipal county and township governments receive money from property tax distributions," she said.

Hodges said the City of Charlestown typically gets $5 million in property tax availability. That's being cut by $1.2 million. This means every city department had cuts except for the police department.

"We tried to shift as much money as we can, that's left, to our public safety, that's first and foremost, we have to fund our public safety," she said.

Charlestown isn't the only city discussing this bill. While former Jeffersonville Police Chief Kenny Kavanaugh was stepping down Thursday, he brought it up.

"I think some of the challenges that the city is trying to deal with is Senate Bill 1 and expenses. If we are losing $21 million, that I don't know," Kavanaugh said.

Hodges says if they have to slice budgets from the state level, people need to rethink what they expect out of local governments.

"If we want that down-home, small-town community feel by the simple small gestures that the city can make to bring people together, then we have to fund those things and property taxes are how we fund those things," she said.

Hodges says the state also hasn't capped assessed value increases, which may hurt homeowners in the future. She added the effects aren't supposed to be immediate, but next year could impact Charlestown and other southern Indiana communities.

For more information about Senate Bill 1, click here.

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