Decatur County is one of the more interesting assessment stories in the 2026 cycle. The Honda Manufacturing of Indiana plant in Greensburg anchors a substantial industrial tax base, the I-74 corridor pulls southeast-Indianapolis commuter demand into the county's residential market, and the surrounding farmland tracks the broader Indiana farmland 2026 trends. Form 11 notices arrive in Greensburg mailboxes in the spring, the spring tax installment is due May 11, 2026, and the Form 130 appeal window runs 45 days from your specific notice date.
This guide breaks down what's distinctive about Decatur County's 2026 cycle, how the DLGF cost-table reset lands across the county's mixed tax base, and how to file an appeal that actually moves the AV needle.
What's Driving Decatur County AVs in 2026
1. Industrial Improvement Costs
Decatur County's industrial AV is heavily concentrated in a small number of large parcels. The cost-table reset adjusts per-square-foot replacement costs for improvements, and the multipliers compound across large structures — meaning industrial owners absorb the largest absolute AV gains even when the percentage move is similar to residential. Owners of industrial parcels in and around Greensburg should expect AV movement consistent with what we documented in Marion County's commercial assessment surge.
2. SE Indianapolis Commuter Demand
I-74 puts much of Decatur County within a manageable commute to southeast Indianapolis employment, and Greensburg has absorbed real commuter demand over the past decade. Median sale prices have moved up against a relatively low starting baseline, and the assessor's trending window will reflect that. For Greensburg homestead owners with under-trended AVs in prior cycles, the 2026 Form 11 may show a meaningful catch-up.
3. Farmland Productivity and the Surrounding Townships
Outside Greensburg, Decatur County is dominantly agricultural. Farmland AV is set by base rate adjusted by soil productivity factor — and verifying the productivity factor against your USDA NRCS soil maps is the single most recoverable error in farmland assessment. Indiana farmland prices per acre by county shows where Decatur sits in the productivity distribution.
Honda employees and other commuter-belt homeowners: if you bought a Greensburg home in 2025 and the prior owner had the homestead designation, your Form 11 may still show the prior owner's homestead deduction status. Confirm with the Decatur County Auditor that Form HC-10 is on file in your name — without it, the SB 1 supplemental homestead credit won't apply on the spring 2026 bill.
What to Check on Your Decatur County Form 11
Use the statewide Form 11 walkthrough for the general process. Three Decatur-specific items deserve focused attention.
Property Class Code
Verify:
- Owner-occupied residence is coded 510, not 511 (rental)
- Farm-with-residence parcels split correctly between the home and tillable acres
- Commuter-belt homes purchased in 2025 retain the homestead deduction in your name
Industrial Improvement Detail
For industrial parcels:
- Square footage matches actual measured area
- Building class matches actual use
- Obsolete or out-of-service portions are noted
- Recent additions are coded with the correct year
Land vs Improvement Split
A spike in land value alone — without a corresponding move in improvement value — is an appeal flag. For Greensburg residential parcels, compare your land AV per square foot against three or four nearby parcels of similar size.
Decatur County By the Numbers
| Metric | Decatur County |
|---|---|
| County seat | Greensburg |
| Population (approx.) | 27,000 |
| Major employer | Honda Manufacturing of Indiana |
| Median property tax (recent) | ~$775 |
| Constitutional caps | 1% / 2% / 3% |
| Spring tax due | May 11, 2026 |
| Fall tax due | November 10, 2026 |
Filing a Form 130 in Decatur County
Where to File
Form 130 is filed with the Decatur County Assessor's Office at the county courthouse, 150 Courthouse Square, Suite 105, Greensburg. Filings are time-stamped on receipt. Hand-delivery or certified mail with return receipt is the safe choice for any submission in the final week of the window.
What to Include
A complete Decatur County Form 130 package should contain:
- Completed Form 130 (one per parcel)
- Stated grounds: market value, condition, soil productivity (farmland), or assessment error
- Three to five comparable sales (residential) or comparable rents and cap-rate analysis (commercial)
- Photos documenting condition issues
- For farmland: NRCS soil productivity documentation
- For industrial: floor plan, square footage measurement, and obsolescence documentation
- Optional but persuasive: USPAP-compliant appraisal
The general Indiana property tax appeal guide walks through the Form 130 evidence build.
What Happens After Filing
The PTABOA acknowledges the petition and may extend a written settlement offer based on the evidence. Most Decatur County appeals settle on written evidence without a formal hearing. PTABOA hearings typically schedule three to nine months after filing. PTABOA decisions can be escalated to the Indiana Board of Tax Review within 30 days of the written determination.
SB 1 and the Spring 2026 Bill
Decatur County homestead owners receive the SB 1 supplemental homestead credit on the spring 2026 bill — 10% of net property tax owed, capped at $300 per homestead. The supplemental homestead deduction also steps from 35% to 40%. Greensburg homestead owners with moderate AVs should see a measurable downward shift on the spring 2026 bill that partially offsets the AV increase landing on the Form 11 for the following year's bill.
The SB 1 credit does not apply to industrial or farmland parcels. For the Honda plant and other industrial owners, the only mechanism to influence the 2027 bill is the Form 130 appeal on the 2026 Form 11.
Personal Property and SB 1's Other Lever
Beyond the homestead credit, SB 1 raised the business personal property exemption to $1 million in 2026 and $2 million in 2027. For Decatur County's manufacturing operators and small commercial businesses along the I-74 corridor, this is a meaningful filing change. Businesses with personal property valued under the exemption threshold do not owe personal property tax on those assets, though the filing requirement remains for documentation purposes.
This is separate from the real property AV that drives Form 11 — but for owners running both real and personal property assessments, the combined impact of the cost-table reset (raising real property AV) and the personal property exemption increase (lowering personal property tax exposure) needs to be modeled together.
The Commuter-Belt Underwriting Picture
For investors evaluating Decatur County rental property, Greensburg sits at the affordable end of the southeast Indianapolis commuter belt — with measurable upside if I-74 corridor demand continues. The 2026 AV reset compresses several years of trended catch-up into one cycle, meaning underwriting models built off prior tax rolls will materially understate the going-forward tax expense. Pull the post-Form 11 AV before locking pro forma assumptions.
Decatur County in the Statewide Picture
Decatur sits below the statewide median property tax rate on a per-AV basis and is not represented among the most over-assessed counties. It is, however, exposed to the cost-table reset on the same percentage basis as every other Indiana county — and its concentrated industrial base means the absolute dollar movement in C&I AV is meaningful. The appeal window is the only mechanism to address parcel-specific overstatements.
Find Your Decatur County Property
- Decatur County overview
- Decatur residential parcel data
- Decatur commercial parcel data
- Decatur industrial parcel data
- Decatur agricultural parcel data
For a quick read on your AV versus comparable sales, Property Lookup pulls the comp set. For a contingency-based appeal, Tax Appeal Automation builds the Form 130.