Indiana Senate passes bill exempting certain buildings from property taxes

The Indiana Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would allow certain buildings to be exempt from property taxes.

Senate Bill 274 is authored by Sen. Tyler Johnson, R-Leo, and Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne. Buildings would have to be owned by a nonprofit entity and registered as an ongoing care retirement community or licensed as a health-care facility.

“This bill started out with a noble idea, and that was that Senator Johnson had a church that owned a cemetery in his community, and they had always been exempted from property taxes. And then for some reason, the assessor decided to issue the tax, and in the committee, I voted for that bill because it was the right thing to do,” said Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis.

“But here’s the danger … In Indiana, to be considered a not-for-profit, all it takes is for you to file articles of incorporation.”

The bill passed 34-15.

Next on the list was Senate Bill 321. The bill is authored by Sen. Andy Zay, R-Huntington, and would define first-aid and emergency standards for schools and school nurses and require they be published on the Indiana Department of Education website. It would also take health and immunization records off of high-school transcripts. 

The bill passed unanimously 49-0. 

Another topic for discussion was Senate Bill 327, relating to Gary Community Schools. The bill is authored by Sen. Ryan Mishler, R-Bremen, and Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso. 

It would set up procedures for a new five-person governing body for Gary schools. Over five years ago, the Indiana legislature took control of the schools due to crumbling finances. 

After the bill was presented, Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary, voiced his concerns.

“There are people that care about this district, there are qualified individuals to lead the district. And I understand that the state has some hesitation because of the investments made over the years. But I wanted to be very clear that Gary is ready to lead its district, and at some point in the very near future, I’m sure that you all will help us get to that point,” he said. 

“I’ll be voting no on this bill. I do realize we have to have something to move forward because if we don’t have a bill to move forward, we don’t have any structure to turn the district over. The emergency management team contracts, their contract ends at the end of next year. So we have nothing or no structure for it to return back to anything, be it state or local. So this is the next phase. But again, I wish it goes further.”

The bill passed by a vote of 40-9.

The final bill of discussion for the day was Senate Bill 404, which says that a state educational institution or a private post-secondary educational institution, operated for profit, may not refuse to provide a transcript for a current or former student on the grounds that the student owes a debt to the institution. However, this is only if the student has paid certain amounts in the past year on the debt owed.

The bill also states that these institutions may not charge a higher fee to obtain a transcript or provide less than favorable treatment of a current or former student who requests a transcript but still owes a debt to the institution.

According to the author of the bill, Sen. Spencer Deery, R-West Lafayette, Senate Bill 404 seeks to “address and help the more than 750,000 Hoosiers with some college credit and no degree.”

The bill declares that if an individual is making a good effort to pay down their debt, then the institution must give them their transcripts even if they haven’t paid off the complete amount they owe.

The bill passed 47-2.