State Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn votes against Senate Bill 1

Submitted by Office of State Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn

Last week, the Indiana House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 1, which will potentially increase Hoosiers’ local income taxes by $1.1 billion annually while cutting police, fire, EMS, and public schools services by $1.4 billion over three years.

While the bill was pushed through with very little time to review the possible fiscal impact, it’s clear that SB 1 will provide minimal property tax relief to Hoosiers. Statehouse leadership told Hoosiers it’s time to “tighten our belts” while discussing this legislation, despite concerns that SB 1 will choke the life out of vital services provided by local governments.

State Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn (D-Fishers) issued the following statement after voting “no” on SB 1:

“My dad always used to tell me that numbers don’t lie, and I spent lots of time last week poring over the fiscal impact of Senate Bill 1 once the fiscal note was published. The numbers in this proposal show that Hamilton County stands to lose $132.98 million in funding as a result of this bill. People move to Hamilton County for our excellent schools, public safety and local services. The savings for Hoosier homeowners only comes out to $1.4 billion over three years, but the local income tax capacity has been raised by $3.3 billion over three years – meaning that while you might save the average amount of $245 off your property tax bill, your local income tax bill can rise as a result.

“In addition to analyzing the fiscal impact of Senate Bill 1, I made sure to communicate with our mayors and other local elected officials throughout the Senate Bill 1 process. I also received dozens of phone calls, emails and text messages from my constituency, and the overwhelming consensus from them was that this bill will have dire consequences for the local services we hold dear. It’s incredibly important to me to work across the aisle and build consensus with my fellow Hamilton County lawmakers, but this was one issue on which I simply could not reach agreement with them. Senate Bill 1 in its current form is just not workable for House District 32.

“I voted ‘no’ on Senate Bill 1 to keep our schools and public safety excellent and to keep all Hamilton County taxpayers from getting a bump in their local income tax rate from 1.1 percent up to the new maximum of 2.9 percent.”

The bill passed out of the Senate on a concurrence vote on Monday evening. Gov. Mike Braun has signaled that he intends to sign this property tax plan into law.