Indiana Public Health Association

Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
PDF Print E-mail

The Indiana Public Health Association was formed over sixty years ago with the mission of providing a networking partnership for health professionals and members of the public with an interest in the health of the people of Indiana.

Local Board of Health Accreditation Orientation

The Indiana State Health Department (ISDH) and the Indiana Association of Local Boards of Health  (InALBOH) have partnered to help local boards of health understand public health department accreditation and how they can best support local accreditation efforts.  Find out more information here or go here to see your invitation from Dr. Judy Monroe.

2010 Legislative Issues

From Millicent Fleming-Moran, PhD, IPHA Local Health Infrastructure Committee

The Legislative Services Agency, the non-partisan staff which provides fiscal, legal and policy support to the state General Assembly, published an October 2009 report on the impact of the multiple state and county-level property tax changes on state and local revenue streams. The link to the LSA website and this publication is:

http://www.in.gov/legislative/pdf/STATEWIDE09.PDF

The LSA also prepared a similar local reports for 68 counties for which data were available as of October.

 

Changes in state and local taxation between 2007 and 2009 included, in part:

  • One-time tax relief repayments to homeowners (2008) of up to 35% of their homestead assessment.
  • Revised tax revenue collection (levies) where property taxes for the school general fund, county welfare funds, and several  smaller funds were eliminated and their costs taken over by the state.
  • Revised home property tax assessment procedures, now are based on a moving average of 3 years of market values for homes. [Declining real estate values have reduced revenues in many communities]
  • Circuit breaker Tax Caps [limits] on total property taxes rates for homesteads [1.5%], rental homes and farms [2.5%] and other businesses/personal property [3.5%], or a fixed percent of assessed value before deductions. These will move to 1%,2% and 3% in 2010.
  • State property tax replacement credits and most state homestead credits were eliminated, with the money used to fund added state school and welfare costs. Pension fund and hospital care for indigent programs are still under discussion under proposed tax reform.
  • Expanded options for local governments to enact Local Optional Income Taxes [LOITS] to raise revenues.
 

The mix of property types, market values in local communities, makes sorting out the impact of these multiple changes for each county and city very challenging.  However, a general sense of the overall impact has been projected by LSA. For example, Marion County's total net assessed property values declined 15% between 2008-09, and total tax levys declined 31% for the same period, according to the LSA report.

Both the House and Senate are currently discussing and voting on resolutions to make the tax caps part of the Indiana Constitution. If passed, the proposal to include the caps would be brought before Indiana voters in a referendum in the next general election.

A recent report from the National Association of County and City Health Officials [NACCHO, Jan 2009] surveyed over 2400 local US health departments in late 2008. In Indiana, 39% of LHDs reponded. Of these, 15% reported budget reductions between 2007-08, and one-third expected budget cuts in 2009. Nationally, 52% of LHDs laid off staff or lost to attrition in 2008; 32% expected further layoffs in 2009.

IPHA is partnering with the Indiana Association of Counties, The Indiana Health Administrator's Association, ISDH, INALBOH, and others to disseminate information about local government revenues, LHD funding and public health legal mandates to help inform local health officials of the status of Indiana's local public health infrastructure.

Other Public Health Legislative Issues in the Upcoming Session