Hill Responds to Hoosier Taxpayers' Concerns, Introduces Property Tax Relief Act

(Washington, DC) - On Tuesday, September 18th, Congressman Baron Hill introduced legislation that assists middle- and low-income families in decreasing their taxes. The bill, the Property Tax Relief Act of 2007, will allow homeowners who do not itemize to deduct their property taxes from their federal income taxes. Currently, the only citizens benefitting from the property tax reduction are those who itemize their taxes. Estimates suggest that approximately 40% of homeowners do not itemize.

"I have heard from many constituents about how hard they have been hit by increased property taxes," Hill said. "And, as a homeowner in Southern Indiana myself, I understand their concerns."

Although the federal government's involvement with property taxes is quite limited, Hill saw a way to address homeowners' concerns by introducing legislation that will no longer require taxpayers to itemize in order to deduct their property taxes from their federal income taxes.

According to the Congressional Research Service, there are approximately 942,000 non-itemizers who could be homeowners in Indiana. Under this bill, a home-owning family that does not itemize and makes roughly between $64,000 and $128,000 per year would see an average benefit of $300.

"I could not sit back and do nothing while so many of my constituents were being affected," Hill said. "I have heard from some of my constituents whose property taxes have doubled this year. This is a huge financial burden to take on, and I want to do my part to help alleviate that."

The bill's lead cosponsor is Congressman Vito Fossella (R-NY), and other original cosponsors are Representatives Dan Burton, Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth, Kirsten Gillibrand, John Hall, Patrick Murphy and Mike Pence.