Well, if you ever wanted proof that the General AS...

2007-07-29T08:51:00.000-05:00

Well, if you ever wanted proof that the General ASSembly was violating our Indiana Constitution, here it is!!

Look at the last line of their proposed amendment! They are striking out the ONLY property tax listed...a tax on the property of corporations!

WHY? The language allows the GA the option to tax, or NOT to tax, by employing the word "may" within the clause. I can't imagine a valid reason why they would want to strike this language from our Constitution. I'm forced to conclude there is some other insidious goal the GA wishes to achieve, and I strongly suspect this goal would NOT be friendly to taxpayers and residential property owners.

I have been challenging the taxation of private residential property for the support of the 'common schools' for years. Article 8 sets out nine (9) specific funding methods to support our common schools. The Delegates that crafted the language did NOT give the General Assembly a blank check to tax everything in existence -- and the voters ratified the language crafted by the Delegates.

Had the 'intent' of the Delegates and voters been to allow the GA to tax anything they wanted to support the common schools, they would have said so.

Let us review.

The GA didn't like the inventory tax. Beginning in 2002 or so, they began 'phasing-out' the tax, even though the Constitution specifically barred them from doing so. Then, they manage to get an amendment before the voters in 2004, and told us that by ratifying this amendment, the GA "could" exempt their homes from taxation, and that the loss of the inventory tax would NOT shift to them. The media helped government in getting this message out.

In November 2004, the voters -- believing what they had been told -- ratified the amendment. Now, the GA could 'legally' (constitutionally) exempt inventory from taxation.

The inventory tax immediately shifted onto the backs of residential property owners.

Now, members of the GA want to amend Article 10 to abolish the taxation of property of corporations.

Does anyone but me wonder why the government might want to do this?

Alas, still nothing in this decision that really addressed school funding as described in Article 8 Section 2.

The original 1816 Constitution did not fund education. This was remedied with Art 8 Sect 2 of the 1851 Constitution.

There are 9 specific funding funding methods authorized in Section 2.

The ONLY time that ANY type of TAX on PROPERTY is the LAST method:

"Taxes on the property of corporations, that may be assessed by the General Assembly for common school purposes."

Some in the General Assmebly want to amend Article 8 Section 2 by STRIKING OUT this last method of funding!

Then, they want to ADD the following:

Section 9. (a) Except as provided by subsection (b), property may not be taxed for common school purposes.
(b) The General Assembly may authorize the assessment of taxes for the following common school purposes:
(1) Transportation costs.
(2) Capital project costs and debts related to capital projects.

Here is the link to SJR0015:

http://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?year=2007&session=1&request=getBill&docno=0015&doctype=SJR

Hmmm....a reading of the DIGEST of the proposed Bill would lead the unwary to believe that goal of the amendment is to relieve ALL property from taxation for the support of the common schools. Alas, I fear that THIS is what voters would see and believe. Only a relative few would bother to read AND understand the actual language of the proposed amendment, and then discern what it REALLY means to them.

I wonder why the DIGEST doesn't inform the casual voter that the ONLY tax the GA want to abolish is a tax on corporations?

I'm also left wondering why the GA wants to INCLUDE a provision to Constitutionally-fund transportation!

Certainly, it couldn't be that taxing property to pay for transportation and associated costs is UNCONSTITUTIONAL, could it?

Below is our Indiana Constitution, Article 8 - Common Schools. It already prohibits the taxation of any 'property' except the "property of corporations". What, are they wanting to do to Article 8 what they did with the 'inventory tax'??

I would prefer that they left Article 8 alone, and simply followed it as written. Article 8 Section 2 -- as written -- prohibits the GA from taxing private residential property for the common schools!!

YES, I know that they are doing it anyway. BUT, if they manage to get this into our Constitution, then they will SOAK us, and it will be Constitutional!

REMEMBER, the ONLY time that taxation of property is listed anywhere in the funding scheme is the last funding item below -- and embraces ONLY taxation on the property of corporations !!

You might want to peruse SJR-16 also, as it contains similar information.

All Resolutions of the GA can be found here:
http://www.in.gov/apps/lsa/session/billwatch/billinfo?year=2007&session=1&request=getJointResolutions

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Well, if you ever wanted proof that the General AS...