New Carlisle area residents celebrated their win early Wednesday when the St. Joseph County Council denied a rezoning needed for a data center. But the county assessor says, thanks to state-mandated property tax changes, those residents might not like what’s coming next if they aren’t willing to support some large scale economic development.
One of the effects of Senate Enrolled Act 1 is a tax break on business personal property. That’s not the land or building, but the things inside it. They’ll now be able to exempt the first $2 million of its assessed value from taxes, compared to the current $80,000 exemption limit, when they file each year.
“Prior to that we had 10,000 filings," says county Assessor Mike Castellon. "Applying the $2 million cap, you eliminate almost 9,600 of those filings. Close to 35% of the overall assessed value we bring in the county is going to be eliminated through personal property. It’s a lot of money.”
Castellon says he tried to persuade House and Senate members to at least phase in the change but he had no luck.
He says that large of a tax revenue reduction will force cuts in core government services, including public safety, if the county can’t find a way to bring more development in. If not, the only alternative will be higher property tax rates or new local income taxes.
