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Council opens budget process; staff warns of property-tax changes and final chance for levy-growth appeal
Summary
Town staff presented the budget introduction and a detailed briefing on state changes to property-tax law (Senate Bill 1), the town’s rapid assessed-value growth, and the town’s opportunity to file a final levy-growth appeal before a statutory change removes that tool.
The Whiteland Town Council opened the 2026 budget process and heard an extended presentation from town staff and the town’s financial advisor about recent state-level changes to property-tax rules and the choices the town faces entering the budget cycle.
Town staff opened the agenda item as an introduction to proposed 2026 appropriations and noted the town’s large year-over-year assessed-value increase (presented in the meeting as “about 34–38%,” and as a cumulative increase since 2017 of “over 200%”). Staff described the item tonight as an introduction and said formal adoption would follow the state timeline; the council held a public hearing and did not adopt the ordinance at the meeting.
Adam Stone, the town’s fiscal advisor, walked the council through how Indiana’s levy and tax-rate system works, explained why rapid assessed-value growth typically…
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