Watchdog Indiana Home Page

Watchdog Indiana provides information about the revenues, spending, and long-term debt assumption of Indiana local and state governments. An online community is established where Hoosiers come together voluntarily to help encourage our state and local governments better respond to the needs of working families. 

Watchdog Indiana is a non-profit, non-connected, and non-party advocate for good government that focuses on the state and local tax burden of Hoosier working families.
Watchdog Indiana was founded by Aaron Smith on November 14, 2001.

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To receive Watchdog Indiana E-mail Updates, put SUBSCRIBE in the subject line of your E-mail sent to taxless3@comcast.net. There are currently 26,872 Hoosiers in 72 counties who receive E-mail Updates. Since November 14, 2001, 151 general distribution E-mail Updates have been sent. NOTE: Watchdog Indiana does NOT sell or give its E-mail Address Book to anyone!

Immediate action needed!
02/25/2010: Voters statewide have the opportunity on November 2, 2010, to amend  the Indiana Constitution  to (1) make the 1% - 2% - 3% property tax caps permanent and (2) protect homeowner property tax deductions from legal challenge.

Voters are encouraged NOW to start educating themselves regarding the Constitutional Amendment in this November's Public Question #1. Information about the Constitutional Amendment and reasons to vote YES can be found at http://www.finplaneducation.net/caps_top_twenty.htm.    

As the leading citizen advocate for the Constitutional Amendment, Watchdog Indiana is available to attend any public meeting, anywhere, at any time. Watchdog Indiana also welcomes the opportunity should any Constitutional Amendment opponents want to schedule a public debate. Interested organizations and individuals should contact Watchdog Indiana if they would like to for Watchdog Indiana to participate in their meeting. 

Did You Know?
05/05/2010: Watchdog Indiana will assign a Candidate Rating to the candidates in selected contested November 2 State Representative and State Senator elections. Please go to http://www.finplaneducation.net/2010_general_elections.htm to find the Candidate Rating for your General Assembly candidates. Contact information is provided so you can get in touch with your General Assembly candidates to get YOUR questions answered about their qualifications.

Hot Topics.

Updated! Indiana General Assembly & Governor Ratings: Watchdog Indiana provides the only ratings of state legislators and the governor based on how their votes on key legislative proposals from 2002 to the present affect the state and local tax burden of Hoosier working families.

NEW! Top Twenty Reasons to support the Constitutional Amendment: Voters statewide will vote November 2, 2010, on a constitutional amendment to (1) make the 1% - 2% - 3% property tax caps permanent and (2) protect homeowner property tax deductions from legal challenge. Listed and explained are the top twenty reasons for working families to vote YES for Public Question #1 on the Constitutional Amendment. 

Property Tax Caps: How They Operate: Some Hoosiers, particularly small business owners and farmers, do not fully understand how the 1%-2%-3% property tax caps operate. Any property tax revenue shortfalls generated by the caps cannot be shifted to other taxpayer classes that have not reached their cap limit. 

Updated! Property Tax Caps K-12 Schools Impact: The effect of 2011 property tax caps on the total expenditures of Indiana's K-12 public school systems will be manageable. Of the 293 K-12 Indiana public school systems, 271 school systems will experience a 2011 property tax caps revenue decline that is 2.0% or less of their 2009 grand total expenditures. IF the 1% - 2% - 3% property tax caps and homeowner property tax deductions are reliably protected through passage of the Constitutional Amendment on November 2, 2010, it MIGHT make sense to working families to approve a local referendum for a 7-year property tax increase to provide additional tuition support in 22 school systems.

Updated! Property Tax Caps Municipal Impact: The 2010 property tax caps will have NO significant impact on essential service delivery by the great majority of Indiana's 565 cities and towns. Of Indiana's 92 counties, 21 counties MAY need to consider a local option income tax in lieu of finding less expensive ways to maintain essential municipal services for many citizens. Anyone who uses property tax caps in the other 71 counties to justify the imposition of a LOIT is mistaken or intentionally misleading working families. NOTE: Prudent homeowners in all counties should oppose the imposition of any new LOIT until the property tax caps are added to the Indiana Constitution via the November 2, 2010, statewide referendum - property tax relief will disappear without the constitutional property tax caps, while a new LOIT will be permanent.

Property Tax Caps: Referendum Implications: Watchdog Indiana recommends a NO vote on all local referenda UNTIL the property tax caps are included in the Indiana Constitution. It makes no sense to approve property-tax-increasing referenda (which are exempt from the property tax caps) without constitutional protection against future property tax increases. Some evaluation data is included for the following for four November 3, 2009, Marion County referenda: Wishard Memorial Hospital, Beech Grove City Schools, Perry Township Metropolitan School District, Franklin Township Community School Corporation.

Property Tax Assessment Issues: There are those who question the importance of the 1% homeowner property tax cap because the cap is based on the gross assessed value of the homestead property, which is allowed to fluctuate. Homeowner property tax assessments will likely CREEP UP over time, but these assessment increases BY THEMSELVES are NOT expected to cause homeowner property taxes to LEAP UP. In other words, the 1% homeowner property tax cap in the Constitutional Amendment on the November 2, 2010, ballot is the foundation for genuine property tax relief even if homeowner property tax assessments increase because of market value increases.

Cap Our Property Tax!: This site was started by Porter County Indiana Commissioner Bob Harper in order to bring together citizens of Indiana to pressure the Indiana Legislature to vote 'YES' on a referendum, so Hoosiers can vote to Amend the State Constitution to guarantee the current property tax CAPs stay at 1% 2% and 3%!

2008 House Bill 1001: IF the property tax caps in the Constitutional Amendment on the November 2, 2010, ballot are passed, this comprehensive property tax relief bill will make the state and local tax burden of Hoosier working families more fair and affordable by moving away from property taxes to sales and income taxes.

Jeff Thompson Property Tax Replacement Plan: In addition to using variable local option income taxes to replace the revenue lost to property tax caps, House Bill 1149 gives every local taxing unit the option of providing a 100% property tax credit for their working families. As shown by Accurate Property Tax Math, the average Hoosier working family spent 4.1% of their state taxable income to pay their 2006 property tax. The Jeff Thompson Property Tax Replacement Plan Impact is a real eye-opener!

Property Tax Betrayal & Incompetence 2002-2007: Indiana General Assemblies and Governors have turned a promised 16.3% homeowner property tax reduction in 2003 into a decrease of just 2.4% in four years. Details regarding the betrayal and incompetence over the years are included in the General Assembly Property Tax Legislation.

Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network: If you or someone you know is behind on the mortgage, or even in danger of falling behind, please contact the IFPN, a statewide program to provide free mortgage foreclosure counseling and education to at-risk homeowners. All Network services are free, and all Network counselors are certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. 

IHCDA University: The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority has a free online course to educate prospective homebuyers on the home purchasing process.

Townships Sit on $200 Million of Your Cash: Indiana's 1,008 townships have amassed more than $200 million in taxpayer money that is stashed in reserves, yet no one - township officials, state officials, or lawmakers - has made any effort to curb the property tax collections that generated the surplus. Most townships have cash balances at equal or greater value than what they spend each year. You can go to http://www.indystar.com/data/government/township_spending.shtml to find out how much tax money is being spent and saved by the townships in your county.

Lobbyists and the Legislature: How much do lobbyists spend? Which lawmakers accept gifts from lobbyists? The Indianapolis Star has established a searchable database of Indiana General Assembly lobbyist spending for the one-year period that ended April 30, 2009.

INvest.in.gov: Indiana has established a website to help Hoosiers determine how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus funds will be distributed in Indiana and what kinds of projects and programs are eligible for the funds. 

"Major Moves": The 2006 Indiana House Bill 1008 is Taxpayer UNfriendly because it authorizes a toll road for an I-69 extension between Martinsville and Evansville. 

NEW! Homework Enhances Learning Potential (the H.E.L.P. program): Communities that highly value education can be identified by tabulating the percent of Students in every Indiana Grade 1, 2 and 3 School whose Homework was supervised by a Mature Homework Partner every day they attended school the previous week. When a Community uses all its resources to provide Mature Homework Partners, the Community sends a clear message every day to its First, Second, and Third Grade Students that education is highly valued. These Students are more likely to receive a good education with a minimal reliance on costly and ineffective remediation.

Watchdog Indiana Topics Index
Click here for access to the various Watchdog Indiana web pages related to 25 different topic areas.

You Can Help.
Listed below are several ways you can help control Indiana taxes and spending.

Bookmark this website so you can easily visit Watchdog Indiana often to help learn about state cash revenues, cash spending, and long-term debt assumption.

Suggest projects for Watchdog Indiana to adopt. Please send an E-mail if you know of something that needs the attention of Watchdog Indiana.

Register to vote. The 2008 Indiana Voter Information Guide tells how and where to register to vote.

Visit the Indiana General Assembly & Governor Ratings for a candidate's rating when voting for State Representatives and State Senators.

E-mail to the Editor of your local newspaper a letter or opinion article about state cash revenues, cash spending, and long-term debt assumption. Use Letters To The Editor Via E-mail to find the E-mail address of the Editor of your local newspaper.

Use the Local Government Factfinding List to understand and influence the revenues, spending, and long-term debt assumption decisions of your local government.

Make a monetary contribution to Watchdog Indiana. Contributions will be used to help publicize the positions taken by Watchdog Indiana. Watchdog Indiana is established as a non-profit, non-connected, and non-party political action committee (see WINPAC) so contributors will be protected by the bookkeeping and reporting requirements of Indiana's Election Division. All Watchdog Indiana monetary contributions and expenditures can be found online at the Indiana Campaign Finance Database. Watchdog Indiana contributions are not tax deductible. Send an E-mail for the mailing address if you wish to make a monetary contribution to Watchdog Indiana. 

Establish a local Watchdog chapter for your local government. See the Constitution And Bylaws for organizational details. Watchdog Lebanon is an example of a local Watchdog chapter.

Please send an E-mail telling what you think about Watchdog Indiana or anything else that comes to mind. Your comments, suggestions, problems, complaints, praise, and opinions are welcome.

This page was last updated on 07/26/10.