Southern Indiana Business Report
INDIANAPOLIS – On Jan. 3, Gov. Eric J. Holcomb announced his 2022 Next Level Agenda, which is intended to focus on strengthening the state’s economy and areas that support that growth, including a big change to business personal property taxes.
“The 2022 Next Level Agenda builds a foundation for a healthier state,” Holcomb said. “These priorities will cultivate a more competitive environment to attract new economic development opportunities, establish better access to public health resources and help connect Hoosiers to better employment and training opportunities. Our efforts will advance Indiana’s reputation as a state Hoosiers want to live, work, play, study and stay.”
Economic development
One of the agenda focuses that’s getting the support of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce is working with the legislature to eliminate the business personal property tax on new equipment. The measure is now part of House Bill 1002 – authored by House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville, and Rep. Dan Leonard, R-Huntington.
Chamber leadership notes that phasing out the floor by exempting newly acquired property and equipment has been a specific proposal of the organization for several years and various efforts to reduce personal property tax have been underway for two decades. “Gov. Holcomb is right on target with this priority and we’re pleased to support it,” said Indiana Chamber President and CEO Kevin Brinegar. “This has been one aspect of Indiana’s tax code that’s difficult for businesses and this will help smaller companies – especially manufacturers.”
Chamber leadership is urging for a gradual implementation and providing a means to replace lost revenue will minimize the impact on local property tax revenues.
In other economic development matters, Holcomb is advocating for a modernization of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation toolkit. Highlights include creating a new funding mechanism to more competitively invest in transformational economic development opportunities, providing greater flexibility within the existing economic tax credit incentive programs, and incentivizing and attracting more remote worker jobs to Indiana.
Education and workforce development
In addition to strengthening early learning opportunities, the Indiana Department of Education will move forward with the Indiana Graduates Prepared to Succeed, a new school performance dashboard which will focus on how students are building skills for success beyond the classroom. DOE is also building a new teacher supply-and-demand marketplace that will connect educators with job opportunities in Indiana. Additionally, the state is strengthening its data-driven public workforce system to connect unemployed Hoosiers with employers, jobs and training programs.
Community development
The 2022 Next Level Agenda will assist communities in establishing safeguards to strengthen cybersecurity efforts by developing a grant program that will help local governments develop improvement plans. Holcomb is committed to overseeing the implementation of the $500 million READI program as the 17 regions begin developing their projects. The agenda calls for continued progress on capital projects that were authorized in the current budget and building better infrastructure to connect communities for future generations by completing roads, trails, broadband and facility projects.