State Legislature

Indiana farmers celebrate tax relief victory

A state policy specialist says the signing of Indiana Senate Bill 308 is a historic legislative victory.

Indiana Farm Bureau’s Katrina Hall says farmland taxes have increased 63 percent in Indiana since 2007 and it was time for relief.  “Between 2016 and 2019, combined with the legislation that happened last year, it’s about $500 million in farmland tax relief,” she says.  “That’s really taxes that if the legislation hadn’t passed farmers would be paying.”

She says this is an issue Indiana farmers are passionate about and made their voices heard.  “We really had an ignited ag community that got behind this legislation,” she says.  “The reason for that is that it provided such significant relief we were excited about it.”

AUDIO: Katrina Hall, Indiana Farm Bureau

Lt. Governor Eric Holcomb says the bill provides certainty for farmers when it is needed most.  “It’s a huge step,” he says.  “A lot of credit goes to Farm Bureau and Indiana Farm Bureau’s leadership in this area,” he says.  “And truly their voice carried the day.  They had the substance and the numbers to back it all up so there wasn’t a lot of convincing that needed to be done.”

AUDIO: Lt. Governor Eric Holcomb

Indiana Farm Bureau president Randy Kron says this was the result of several years of hard work by Indiana Farm Bureau members.  “It’s the relief that Indiana agriculture and Indiana farmers have wanted for a long time on their farmland taxes,” he says.  “It’s going to make the taxes more reflective of the current economic environment instead of when we had higher commodity price levels which is where they were really paying the tax levels.”

Kron says the Governor’s signing of the bill was the culmination of several years of hard work and dedication to finding a permanent fix to the farmland tax issue.

AUDIO: Randy Kron, president Indiana Farm Bureau