Prosperity Indiana Informing Indiana Governor’s Race on Housing, Property Tax Issues

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – As part of its ongoing Our Homes, Our Votes initiative, Prosperity Indiana and partners have contributed to voter education and candidate engagement in the race for Indiana Governor. This includes a PI-authored report on ‘Housing Hoosiers’ for the Indiana University Public Policy Institute’s Gubernatorial Candidates Forum, and a ‘Hoosier Property Taxes 101’ event co-hosted with the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute that included analysis from state and national experts on the candidates’ property tax Ireform proposals.

Image: Indiana University Public Policy Institute

From the Indiana University Public Policy Institute’s news release: “[The report ‘Housing Hoosiers’] authored by Prosperity Indiana, explores housing in Indiana and provides policy recommendations for improving housing security by addressing housing availability, state housing laws, housing instability, and homelessness. 

• Indiana has a deficit of nearly 140,000 affordable and available rental homes. There are 34 units available for every 100 of the lowest-income households—the second-lowest rate in the Midwest. 

• More than 90% of Hoosier households with yearly incomes of more than $150,000 are homeowners, while less than 40% of Hoosier households earning less than $20,000 annually own their homes. 

• Hoosiers working full time would need to earn, on average, $22.07/hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment, up $3.07 from 2023. But, in Indiana, the average renter makes only $17.92/hour, which increased just six cents from 2023.” 

The report is part of PPI’s Decision 2024: Your Voices, Your Future project, and helped inform their Indiana Gubernatorial Candidates Forum meant to help voters learn where each candidate stands on our most important issues without distractions that come with debates.   

Hear the candidates for Governor answer questions inspired by PI’s report, including on issues of affordable renting and homeownership. Watch the full Forum here and see coverage of candidates’ housing answers from Indiana Public Media. 

Image: Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute 

In addition, PI co-hosted the event Hoosier Property Taxes 101 - A Historical Perspective and Conversation About Where We Go From Here with the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute and hosted by the Indiana Farm Bureau. Legislators, advocates, and community members in attendance learned how Indiana's tax policy compares to other states and how proposed property tax reform policies will impact Hoosier taxpayers and local government services in the future. Panel experts from Purdue University, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, and the Indiana Association of REALTORS discussed original research and provided their analysis on the property tax proposals of the candidates for Indiana Governor. 

Find the discussion slides, reports, and other event resources on IFPI’s publications page, and see coverage from the event from the Indiana Capital Chronicle and Indiana Public Broadcasting News.