Muncie, Ind. — 2025 marked the start of a new political year, with President Donald Trump retaking office alongside many new governors across the country. With a red wave sweeping across the country, a majority of the election results ended in favor of the republican party, with Indiana bringing in republican governor Mike Braun.
Governor Braun was reported as having a very promising campaign with a heavy focus on a new tax proposal. The goal of his tax proposal is to combat inflation with large tax cuts and a limit on the amount property tax can be increased. Braun’s proposal also targets certain farming aspects as well as putting pressure on local government.
“But the state can’t get too heavy-handed. It must abide by a decades-old ruling declaring Indiana’s previous tax system, which wasn’t based on the market, unconstitutional,” according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
The Indiana Senate saw lots of promise with Braun’s proposal and decided to modify it, introducing a new tax plan under the name of Senate Bill 1. The Senate’s modifications shift more focus onto tightening restrictions for school referendums and more limits on the property tax cap, establishing a credit system for first-time home buyers.
Under Senate Bill 1, the property tax cap will be 3% compared to the original 2% proposed by Braun. The changes come as the Senate moves to help the tax program to benefit older Hoosiers, disabled veterans and first-time home buyers.
With the new changes also comes threats of a veto from Braun, after he claims that the modifications made to the original proposal take away from his main points.
Regardless of which version of the plan becomes finalized, many Hoosiers have reacted with negative opposition. Part of this opposition to the plan comes from Delaware County, where the County Council declared they are against any tax plans that negatively impact local government. If the plan passes, Delaware County projects a possible cut of up to 30 or 40 County jobs and a loss of up to $1.8 million or more in 2026.
Coming together, the community met at the Delaware County Fairgrounds to hold a discussion about the property taxes. The event was put together and hosted by Frank Russell.
“I think we can figure it out. We just need someone to come up with a good plan, a really good plan. With that, I think we can come away with something that benefits the community,” said Russell.
Many of the community members who showed up expressed their interest in removing the property tax completely. This brought around discussion about the possible shift from property tax to sales taxes, or even a tax on service. All of which would have repercussions throughout the community. Ryan Webb, a former Delaware County Council member, was in attendance and voiced his opinion on the new tax plan.
“No matter what is done with this tax plan, they need to have more input from the community,” said Webb. “The property tax is making it hard for those who have their homes paid off to keep their homes. They aren’t realizing that any tax on property, sales or service will make it harder for people to live in the community.”
The community gathered, hoping to raise more awareness to the city council and state legislatures to the displeasure within the community.
“In the end, it wasn’t as big of a turnout as I had liked, and it was disappointing to not have many elected officials come out,” said Russell. “But we start small, and hopefully, next time we can get a bigger crowd.”
Contact Aiden Murray with comments at aiden.murray@bsu.edu.
