A Republican legislator campaigning for the elimination of property taxes in Indiana is hoping for a boost from the issue being included in the party’s new state platform.

Delegates to last weekend’s state party convention added language supporting property tax elimination to the party’s policy platform over the weekend, along with an endorsement of closed primary voting.

Those topics were added to the draft platform during a Friday night committee meeting to a final document that was approved without any debate by a voice vote Saturday by the full convention in Fort Wayne.

Following a platform section stating a commitment “to keeping taxes low and promoting policies that encourage growth and investment in our state’s economy,” a new sentence was added: “In the pursuit of eliminating property taxes, we direct the General Assembly to take up the measure in the next general session.”

Support for ending property taxes

Property tax elimination has gained favor among many conservatives who argue the tax wrongly forces home and business owners to “rent” their property from the government.

Gov. Mike Braun and Republican lawmakers pushed through property tax revisions in the 2025 legislative session, but the changes have left many homeowners dissatisfied with little or no savings.

City and county governments and public schools districts — which receive much of their revenue from property taxes — have faced a growing financial squeeze.

Braun has said he wants to see legislators take up the property tax issue again in the 2027 session.

Rep. J.D. Prescott, R-Union City, said he hopes the Republican platform plank will lead General Assembly members to take up his proposal to eliminate property taxes. His plan would replace that revenue by extending the state’s 7% sales tax to include a vast array of currently untaxed services such as haircuts, construction labor costs and lawyer fees.

“I think it shows members that there is support for the plan,” Prescott told the Indiana Capital Chronicle. “Is it hard and fast that it’s going to force a conversation? No, but I think it does show that there is grassroots support growing for this, and people want to see change.”

Prescott was a convention delegate but said he didn’t propose the platform change.

He is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee that has jurisdiction over tax issues and has introduced a property tax elimination bill the past two sessions that was never taken up by the committee.

Consideration of such a major change to how money is raised for local governments and schools and distributed to them will be complex, said Stephanie Wells, president of the nonpartisan Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute.

“There will be consequences to shifting that tax burden to different Hoosiers,” Wells said. “There always is, and so I think that needs to be discussed.”

Proposal adds sales tax on services

A Legislative Services Agency analysis earlier this year of Prescott’s proposal estimated that the 7% sales tax on services would generate between $13.1 billion and $15.1 billion during 2028. That compares to anticipated property tax collections of $11.6 billion for the year.

Prescott’s plan would not charge the sales tax on healthcare or mental health services. Merchandise currently exempt from sales taxes, such as groceries, would remain the same.

Previous proposals for expanding Indiana’s sales tax, which is the second-highest state rate in the country, have drawn criticism that it would hit the state’s poorest residents hardest.

Prescott, however, argues that people who rent their homes are indirectly paying higher property taxes since rental properties have a 2% tax cap, while resident-owned homes have a 1% cap. He also calls his proposal “a consumption-based tax.”

“People are going to spend based on what they can afford to spend,” he said. “So your lower-income families are going to pay less in sales tax on services, and higher-income families are going to, obviously, spend more.”

Prescott is promoting his proposal through a series of public town hall meetings around the state this summer, with at least a half dozen still coming up.

“Ultimately, we have to have a mechanism to fund local units of government,” he said. “If anybody has an alternate proposal, I’m all ears.”

Endorsement of closed primaries

Another late addition to the Republican platform was giving full support to restricting Indiana’s primaries to registered members of their respective parties.

That push became a top issue raised by Max Engling in his successful campaign to win the Republican nomination for secretary of state.

“I will fight to close our primaries,” he said to cheers during his Saturday convention speech. “Only Republicans should choose our Republican nominees. No Democrat interference.”

The party platform plank makes a similar argument, saying “We believe in the freedom of Republicans to choose their own candidates.”

Hoosier voters can now choose either a Republican or Democratic primary ballot, with state law saying a primary voter must have voted for a majority of that party’s nominees during the last general election, or will vote for most of that party’s candidates in the next general election.

Bills to restrict primary voting have failed in recent legislative sessions, but the Republican platform was revised to say “parties should have the exclusive right to select their own nominees without interference from voters affiliated with opposing parties.”

“Closed primaries preserve the integrity of the electoral process, strengthen party accountability, and ensure that Republican candidates are chosen by Republican voters who support the party’s platform and values,” the platform said.

Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.