Issue Briefs
A series of subject area issue briefs authored by project steering committee members and other contributors who have been engaged to support the IFI project work through activities such as conducting case studies and assisting in pilot project initiation and implementation.
Property Tax
The General Assembly recognized the need for more and better data, and authorized the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) and the Legislative Services Agency to acquire property record card data, parcel by parcel, from the counties. DLGF was given authority to withhold property tax relief payments if counties did not comply. With this new data authority, the legislature asked LSA some questions. What happened during the 2002-2003 reassessment? Which taxpayers in which counties paid more, and which paid less? What were the effects of tax restructuring on tax bills? Full PDF
Sales Tax
The issue of sales tax collection data in Indiana represents an outstanding opportunity to advance our knowledge at minimal cost. The information contained in the monthly collections of tax receipts from state businesses—so usefully exploited by states like Illinois, Kansas, and Florida—is compromised by our failure to consistently record the point of sale. When this flaw is corrected, leaders and policymakers will have a powerful tool to apply to revenue forecasting, impact analysis, land use planning and assessments of regional economic activity. Full PDF
Geographic Information Systems
In the past decade, governmental agencies, educational institutions and private industry have developed increasingly powerful GIS designed to process and analyze map and other data into meaningful information. Full PDF