affordable-housing | Independent Voters of Brown County IN

2025 Commissioner Office Accomplishments – Year in review

Note that all Commissioner and Council Meetings are available for viewing on YouTube at: Brown County Indiana Government Meetings.

- Meeting Schedules, Agenda, and Minutes at the Brown County Indiana Government website.
- Agenda and Minutes. You can sign up to receive agendas via email.

Jan 13, 2026. Commissioner Meeting Jan 7, 2026. Public presses commi ssioners on budget changes, Mt. Tea road plans By Courtney Hughett -January 13, 2026

Jan 13, 2026. County Council Meeting (Jan 8, 2026). County Council rehashes 2026 budget after process breakdowns, January 13, 2026 by Courtney Hughett.

- Kind coverage of the issues and breakdowns. Supportin details: 2025 County Finances and Budget – Notes

- Jan 19, 2026. GUEST OPINION David Bottorff: Why homeowners deserve property tax relief January 19, 2026. David Bottorff is the Executive Director of the Association of Indiana Counties.
  - Prior to SEA 1, Indiana’s income tax laws often provided revenue to local units without requiring those units to take a public vote on the tax. Local governments were also unintentionally rewarded for maintaining property-tax-funded debt and increasing levies, since doing so generated higher property tax collections and a larger share of income tax distributions. SEA 1 addresses these longstanding issues by capping and constraining debt issuance and requiring more units to hold public meetings before establishing or increasing local income tax rates.
  - From 2012 to 2018, residential assessed values increased by less than 4% per year. But beginning in 2019, annual increases exceeded 8%, fueled largely by rapid growth in home market values that far outpaced other property types. As market values surged, the property tax burden shifted disproportionately onto homeowners.
  - To rebalance the system, SEA 1 phases in an increase to the homeowners’ deduction, ultimately allowing homeowners to deduct 67% of their home’s market value by 2031. At that point, homeowners will pay taxes on only 33% of their home’s assessed value. This phased-in change will gradually shift some of the tax burden back to other property classes, restoring balance to the system.
- Jan 13, 2026. New and expanded property tax credits will take effect on 2026 bills By Staff Reports
- Jan 13, 2026. Letter to the Editor: Reader addresses county bond rating, By Sherrie Mitchell.
  - Suppoerting Detail in Bond Rating and Audit Reports

Independent Voters of Brown County IN

Working towards "a more perfect Union," county, and community

Tag Archives: affordable-housing

2026 BC Democrat Commissioner and Council Meetings and Issue