Indiana University
Tax and Finance
Indiana communities have seen dramatic changes in the state’s tax laws and public finance climate in recent years. These changes have put difficult decisions in front of community leaders and elected officials that could define the long-term fiscal sustainability for their cities, towns, and counties.
With services including research on state and local taxes, budgeting, and spending, the IU Public Policy Institute helps leaders and citizens understand and respond to recent changes, develop a plan for the future, and make informed choices. As a leader in this area, the Institute is developing a “dashboard” of fiscal benchmarks that will help local governments assess their fiscal health.
Featured Projects
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Financial Needs for Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in Indiana
Financial Needs for Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in Indiana assesses the infrastructure needs of wastewater and drinking water in Indiana. The new study, sponsored by the Indiana Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (IACIR) and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA), estimates that the 20-year funding gap for Indiana wastewater and drinking water...
Project DetailsExpert Team
Fiscal Benchmarking for Indiana's Local Governments
The laws governing how Indiana’s local governments collect and spend money for services and investments have changed significantly in the last 10 years. In this increasingly complex environment, policy makers and fiscal officers need a tool to help them track fiscal health, to make apples-to-apples comparisons, to identify best practices, and to evaluate how the new fiscal environment impacts the...
Project DetailsPolicy Choices for Indiana's Future (Policy Choices I)
Indiana, along with other states, faces major changes in the economic landscape. People naturally seek to address the immediate problems, but there is also a need to look into the future, to be more proactive in shaping Indiana’s future. PPI is undertaking a process to develop policy recommendations for Indiana’s future based on conditions in Indiana.
Project DetailsIndiana Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations
In 1995, the Indiana General Assembly designated the Center as the staff agency for the Indiana Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (IACIR). The IACIR was formed to create effective communication, cooperation, and partnerships between the federal, state, and local units of government and to improve delivery of services to the citizens of Indiana through a better understanding of the...
Project Details40 Years of Local Income Taxes in Indiana
The Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute and PPI partnered on the report “40 Years of Local Income Taxes in Indiana: Trends, Challenges, and Implications for the Future.” Local option income taxes (referred to as LOIT) are utilized in 91 of 92 counties. There are seven LOIT rates available to counties and while most were adopted to reduce property tax burdens, local units have gradually expanded the...
Project DetailsExpert Team
Matthew Nagle
Courts and the Economy
The recession of 2008 put pressure on nearly every sector in society to do more with less. Unemployment and constrained investment by the private sector reduced economic output, which led to declining tax revenues for state and local governments. As with previous recessions, as the number of people out of work increases, the demand for government services tends to increase just as the money...
Project DetailsExpert Team
- Matthew Nagle
- Erin Braun
- Zachary Mulholland
Thriving Communities, Thriving State (Policy Choices II)
Second project of the Policy Choices Initiative, this one is a place-based analysis.
Project Details
