Article 10, Indiana Constitution

Indiana Constitution
Preamble
Articles
1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16

Article 10 of the Indiana Constitution is entitled Finance. It has eight sections.

Section 1

Text of Section 1: Assessment and Taxation Section 1. (a) Subject to this section, the General Assembly shall provide, by law, for a uniform and equal rate of property assessment and taxation and shall prescribe regulations to secure a just valuation for taxation of all property, both real and personal. (b) A provision of this section permitting the General Assembly to exempt property from taxation also permits the General Assembly to exercise its legislative power to enact property tax deductions and credits for the property. The General Assembly may impose reasonable filing requirements for an exemption, deduction, or credit. (c) The General Assembly may exempt from property taxation any property in any of the following classes: (1) Property being used for municipal, educational, literary, scientific, religious, or charitable purposes. (2) Tangible personal property other than property being held as an investment. (3) Intangible personal property. (4) Tangible property, including curtilage, used as a principal place of residence by an: (A) owner of the property; (B) individual who is buying the tangible property under a contract; or (C) individual who has a beneficial interest in the owner of the tangible property. (d) The General Assembly may exempt any motor vehicles, mobile homes (not otherwise exempt under this section), airplanes, boats, trailers, or similar property, provided that an excise tax in lieu of the property tax is substituted therefore. (e) This subsection applies to property taxes first due and payable in 2012 and thereafter. The following definitions apply to subsection (f) This subsection applies to property taxes first due and payable in 2012 and thereafter. The General Assembly shall, by law, limit a taxpayer's property tax liability as follows: (1) "Other residential property" means tangible property (other than tangible property described in subsection (c)(4)) that is used for residential purposes. (2) "Agricultural land" means land devoted to agricultural use. (3) "Other real property" means real property that is not tangible property described in subsection (c)(4), is not other residential property, and is not agricultural land. (f) This subsection applies to property taxes first due and payable in 2012 and thereafter. The General Assembly shall, by law, limit a taxpayer's property tax liability as follows: (1) A taxpayer's property tax liability on tangible property described in subsection (c)(4) may not exceed one percent (1%) of the gross assessed value of the property that is the basis for the determination of property taxes. (2) A taxpayer's property tax liability on other residential property may not exceed two percent (2%) of the gross assessed value of the property that is the basis for the determination of property taxes. (3) A taxpayer's property tax liability on agricultural land may not exceed two percent (2%) of the gross assessed value of the land that is the basis for the determination of property taxes. (4) A taxpayer's property tax liability on other real property may not exceed three percent (3%) of the gross assessed value of the property that is the basis for the determination of property taxes. (5) A taxpayer's property tax liability on personal property (other than personal property that is tangible property described in subsection (c)(4) or personal property that is other residential property) within a particular taxing district may not exceed three percent (3%) of the gross assessed value of the taxpayer's personal property that is the basis for the determination of property taxes within the taxing district. (g) This subsection applies to property taxes first due and payable in 2012 and thereafter. Property taxes imposed after being approved by the voters in a referendum shall not be considered for purposes of calculating the limits to property tax liability under subsection (f). (h) As used in this subsection, "eligible county" means only a county for which the General Assembly determines in 2008 that limits to property tax liability as described in subsection (f) are expected to reduce in 2010 the aggregate property tax revenue that would otherwise be collected by all units of local government and school corporations in the county by at least twenty percent (20%). The General Assembly may, by law, provide that property taxes imposed in an eligible county to pay debt service or make lease payments for bonds or leases issued or entered into before July 1, 2008, shall not be considered for purposes of calculating the limits to property tax liability under subsection (f). Such a law may not apply after December 31, 2019.

Amendments

• As amended on November 8, 1966.
• Approval of Indiana Property Tax Cap Amendment, Public Question 1 (2010) and amended on November 2, 2010.

Section 2

Text of Section 2: Disposition of Revenue All the revenues derived from the sale of any of the public works belonging to the State, and from the net annual income thereof, and any surplus that may, at any time, remain in the Treasury, derived from taxation for general State purposes, after the payment of the ordinary expenses of the government, and of the interest on bonds of the State, other than Bank bonds; shall be annually applied, under the direction of the General Assembly, to the payment of the principal of the Public Debt.

Section 3

	Text of Section 3: Appropriations No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in pursuance of appropriations made by law.

Section 4

	Text of Section 4: Publication of Statement An accurate statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public money, shall be published with the laws of each regular session of the General Assembly.

Section 5

Text of Section 5: State Debt (a) No law shall authorize any debt to be contracted, on behalf of the State, except in the following cases: to meet casual deficits in the revenue; to pay the interest on the State Debt; to repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or, if hostilities be threatened, provide for the public defense. (b) The following definitions apply to this section only for purposes of the limits on the State budget under this section: (1) "Revenue" means all income received by the state general fund and all other state funds, excluding the proceeds of bonds or other loans. (2) "Expense" means the ordinary operating costs of State government, including any debt service payments made during the biennial budget period. (c) The total amount of expense appropriations enacted by the General Assembly for a biennial budget may not exceed the estimated revenue of the State in the biennial budget period. (d) A State budget enacted by the General Assembly must appropriate money for the State's prefunded pension funds in the amount necessary to actuarially fund the accrued liability of all such pension funds during the budget period. (e) If expenses exceed actual revenue received by the State when reconciled at the close of a biennial budget period, the subsequent biennial budget must subtract any shortfall from the projected revenue available for that subsequent biennial budget. (f) The requirements under subsections (c) and (d) may be suspended if at least two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives and at least two-thirds of the members of the Senate vote to suspend the requirement. (g) A court that orders a remedy pursuant to any case or controversy arising under this section may not order any remedies other than a declaratory judgment or such other remedies that are specifically authorized by the General Assembly in a law implementing this section.

Amendments

• Amended with the approval of Indiana Public Question 1, Balanced Budget Amendment (2018) on November 6, 2018.

Section 6

Text of Section 6: Counties No county shall subscribe for stock in any incorporated company, unless the same be paid for at the time of such subscription; nor shall any county loan its credit to any incorporated company, nor borrow money for the purpose of taking stock in any such company; nor shall the General Assembly ever, on behalf of the State, assume the debts of any county, city, town, or township; nor of any corporation whatever.

Section 7

Text of Section 7: Wabash and Erie Canal No law or resolution shall ever be passed by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, that shall recognize any liability of this State to pay or redeem any certificate of stock issued in pursuance of an act entitled "An Act to provide for the funded debt of the State of Indiana, and for the completion of the Wabash and Erie Canal to Evansville," passed January 19th, 1846; and an act supplemental to said act, passed January 29th, 1847, which, by the provisions of the said acts, or either of them, shall be payable exclusively from the proceeds of the canal lands, and the tolls and revenues of the canal, in said acts mentioned, and no such certificates or stocks shall ever be paid by this State.

Amendments

• As amended on February 18, 1873.

Section 8

	Text of Section 8: Income Tax The general assembly may levy and collect a tax upon income, from whatever source derived, at such rates, in such manner, and with such exemptions as may be prescribed by law.

Amendments

• As amended on November 8, 1932.

See also

• State constitution
• Constitutional article
• Constitutional amendment
• Constitutional revision
• Constitutional convention
• Amendments
  • Initiated constitutional amendment
  • Legislatively-referred constitutional amendment
  • Publication requirements for proposed state constitutional amendments
  • Rules about constitutional conventions in state constitutions
  • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures

External links

Suggest a link

• Indiana.gov, "Indiana Constitution"
• Indiana.gov, "State Constitutions"
• Indiana.gov, "Original Constitution of 1816"
• Indiana.gov, "Constitution of 1851"
• Indiana Public Media, "Posts tagged Indiana Constitution"

Additional reading

• McLauchlan, William P. (1996). The Indiana State Constitution: A Reference Guide Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press
• Indiana.gov, "The 1851 Indiana Constitution" by David G. Vanderstel
• Indiana.gov, "Indiana Bill of Rights" by Randall T. Shepard, Chief Justice, Indiana Supreme Court
• Indiana.gov, "Indiana's Constitutional Past" by Justice Brent E. Dickson, Justice, Indiana Supreme Court