Lawrenceburg council hears presentation on adopting cumulative capital development (CCD) tax; no vote taken

Lawrenceburg City Council members on Jan. 23 heard a presentation from Tim Schrecker of Reedy Financial Group about establishing a cumulative capital development (CCD) fund, a local option property-tax mechanism the consultant said most Indiana cities use to raise money for capital projects.

Schrecker told the council that "CCD fund is short for a cumulative capital development fund. It's a fund that any city or county can do; cities can do up to 5¢." He said the city’s gross levy for a CCD at the recommended rate would be about $263,000 and that the fund would likely net roughly $230,000 on the property-tax side. After accounting for associated financial-institution and excise taxes, Schrecker estimated the city could net about $190,000 a year in additional funds for capital purposes if it adopted the CCD.

The consultant said most units in the state have a CCD and described how adopting one changes the allocation of existing property-tax revenue among taxing units in the same taxing district — not a new broad tax increase — though a small number of low-valued homeowner parcels would see modest increases. Schrecker said about 205 parcels in the 1% (lowest) tax-cap cohort would pay roughly $10 more annually; he later identified approximately $23,100 as the only portion that would constitute "new money." The council’s discussion reflected both figures from the presentation and flagged the difference for follow-up.

Schrecker also outlined the local adoption process: the council must advertise a public hearing, hold the hearing (the notice is already in the paper), vote to adopt the CCD, and then publish a notice of adoption. Publication starts a 30-day remonstrance period; if 25 or more taxpayers remonstrate, the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) holds a virtual remonstrance hearing. If no remonstrance is filed, the auditor signs a certificate of no remonstrance and the CCD becomes effective for taxes first due in 2026 if adoption and publication meet the May 15 deadline.

Council members asked several questions about who would bear the circuit-breaker credits and how schools or the county might be affected. Schrecker said the allocation change would shift some circuit-breaker burden onto other operating funds in the taxing district, with the county likely seeing the largest relative loss and the city gaining more net levy; he emphasized that the state’s school funding mechanism means most educational funding would not be affected in the education fund but could affect local school operating accounts such as bus or maintenance funds.

Responses from council members emphasized caution. Councilperson Tony Abbott said residents already face rising costs and opposed adding even a modest increase for homeowners. Other members, including Councilperson Tom Roulette and Councilperson Brett Bandura, said they wanted more time for review and research; several suggested bringing the item back for more discussion at the next meeting or delaying consideration for a year. The mayor and staff said the CCD item would remain on the table and could be revisited at the next meeting and that the item is already posted for that meeting.

No formal decision to adopt the CCD was made during the work session. The only formal motion recorded in the transcript was to adjourn, which received a second and was approved by voice vote.

Why it matters: If the council adopts a CCD within the required timeline and it survives any remonstrance, the city would create a dedicated capital fund that Schrecker said could provide roughly $190,000 annually for capital projects while shifting how property-tax dollars are distributed among the county, schools and other local units. Council members said they want more time to study the precise fiscal effects on residents and overlapping taxing units before taking action.