Last week a number of House Democrats voted against a constitutional amendment to cap homeowner’s property taxes, including Rep. Trent Van Haaften.  Apparently Rep. Van Haaften is only offended by tax relief when it applies to homeowners.

The Evansville Representative has filed HB 1241 to allow individuals who own private planes to sidestep Indiana sales and use taxes if they register their planes in Indiana this year.  What next, a bill to give tax breaks to golf club manufacturers?

We get it, giving private plane owners a pass on sales and use taxes so they can register planes in Indiana probably helps out some reliever airports and encourages pilots to keep them in Indiana.  There’s probably even some debatable economic impact, however small.

What is not debatable is the hundreds of millions of dollars of property tax relief that Hoosier taxpayers have received since 2008.  When it came time this session to permanently protect homeowners, Van Haaften opposed tax caps to preserve the option for future legislatures to raise property tax rates.  But when private plane owners are disadvantaged, it’s Rep. Van Haaften to the rescue.

If you’re on the side of homeowners, you’ll be interested to know that Rep. Trent Van Haaften has a strong challenger in Republican Wendy McNamara.  To learn more about Wendy and volunteer for her campaign, visit her web page at Frugal Hoosiers Road to 51.