On Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. in Room 404 of the Statehouse, Indiana's Interim Study Committee on Fiscal Policy takes up the question homeowners have been asking for four years: should Indiana keep revaluing homes every year? The posted agenda lists "alternatives to annual adjustment or trending process and the use of cost tables in property assessment," including a Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) report on automated valuation models (AVMs).
Nothing is decided at an interim hearing. But this is the one formal stop where the assessment system itself, not just rates and deductions, is on the record before the 2027 session. Our May overview of the committee's charge covers the broader agenda; this post focuses on the October 14 hearing.
Who sits on the committee and why it is meeting
The committee roster on iga.in.gov lists 14 legislators: Rep. Jeffrey Thompson (chair) and Sen. Travis Holdman (vice chair); Reps. Dave Heine, Jack Jordan, Craig Snow, Edward DeLaney, Gregory Porter, and Cherrish Pryor; and Sens. Scott Baldwin, Chris Garten, Kyle Walker, David Niezgodski, Rodney Pol, and Fady Qaddoura.
The Legislative Council assigned the topic in May. As the Indiana Capital Chronicle reported on May 13, the study should include DLGF reports on automated valuation models and on deductions and exemptions. The specific mandates come from two 2026 laws:
- SEA 163-2026, SECTION 10 orders DLGF to report on alternatives to "the annual adjustment or trending process" and "the use of cost tables," due to the committee by November 1, 2026.
- SEA 163, SECTION 8 orders a separate DLGF report on a centralized "automated valuation system" for homestead and residential property, also due November 1. (SECTION 9 is the monthly payment study.)
- HEA 1210-2026, SECTION 296 urges a study of how property use and ownership affect deductions and exemptions. That topic is not on the October 14 agenda.
What trending is, and how Indiana got here
Indiana once assessed buildings using state cost schedules disconnected from what properties sold for. In the Town of St. John litigation, a series of Tax Court and Indiana Supreme Court opinions from 1996 to 1998 found that system lacked an "objective reality" (Indiana Business Review chronology). The result was the 2002 reassessment, billed in 2003, built on market value-in-use.
To keep values current between reassessments, IC 6-1.1-4-4.5 requires DLGF to run a system of annual adjustments, applied "beginning with the 2006 assessment date." Assessors start from cost tables, then apply neighborhood "trending" factors from local sales until ratio studies meet standards. Purdue economist Larry DeBoer notes that Indiana home prices rose 14% in 2021 and 16% in 2022. Assessors tracked that rise accurately, which is exactly why bills climbed. Our 12% AV growth breakdown shows how that played out statewide.
Cost tables are the other lever. DLGF told practitioners in a May 2026 presentation that some assessors said the tables lagged real building costs, forcing high trending factors. DLGF committed to a two-year update cycle and a new cost model for January 1, 2027. See our 2026 cost schedule reset explainer.
The alternatives on the table, and who each one helps
1. Acquisition-value assessment (California, Michigan). Under California's Proposition 13, value resets to market only on a sale or new construction, and annual increases are capped at 2% (San Luis Obispo County Assessor). Michigan's 1994 Proposal A caps annual taxable value growth at inflation or 5%, whichever is less, and "uncaps" on transfer (City of Portage).
Indiana has already priced a version of this. Rep. Ryan Dvorak's HB 1238-2026 would have frozen homestead AV until sale. The LSA fiscal note estimated a $34 billion cut to homestead gross AV for pay-2028. Homestead taxes would fall $214.6 million while farmland, rentals, and business property absorbed higher rates. The bill never got a hearing.
- Long-time homeowners: biggest winners while they stay put.
- New buyers: pay on today's price, so neighbors in identical houses can owe very different bills.
2. Annual AV growth limits without a sale reset. Indiana Capital Chronicle columnist Niki Kelly argued on Oct. 2 for "smaller changes that would limit the annual growth of assessed value." Everyone's AV moves more smoothly, so new buyers are not penalized. Indiana's existing 1%/2%/3% tax caps under IC 6-1.1-20.6 already limit bills, but not values.
3. AVMs and fewer cost tables. An AVM uses statistical models on sales data to value every home centrally. SEA 163 asks DLGF for how AVMs work, the research literature, and use in other states. A 2026 bill to require statewide AVM assessment, SB 255, died in committee. An AVM changes accuracy and administration, not how much values rise.
Note
Is the DLGF AVM report public? Not as of this writing. The committee's exhibits page lists nothing for the October 14 meeting, and DLGF's reports page has no AVM report. We will update this post once it is posted.
The deductions and exemptions side
The deductions/exemptions study matters because any AV freeze interacts with deductions. DLGF's biennial exemptions and deductions report (April 30, 2026, under IC 6-1.1-33.5-2) found exemptions, deductions, and abatements removed about $271.4 billion, roughly 34%, of Indiana's $798.2 billion pay-2025 gross AV. Most of that is the homestead standard and supplemental deductions. Political pressure for full elimination is a separate track; see our Republican platform outlook.
Warning
Every alternative shifts burden. LSA's HB 1238 note is the clearest evidence: cutting homestead AV raises rates for everyone else. Watch for whether testimony includes a replacement mechanism.
What to do before (and after) October 14
- Read the agenda and exhibits. Testimony slides post on the committee page.
- Contact members. Interim hearings are when legislators are most open to input on drafting.
- Check your current assessment. No reform will touch the 2026 assessment date. If your AV outran your neighborhood, the appeal guide and AribaTax tax appeal tools still matter.
- Measure uniformity yourself. Learn how assessments work and what a COD score shows, then compare neighborhoods with our assessment equity data.
- Watch 2027 filings. Bills drafted from this study will drop in January, alongside the 2027 cyclical reassessment.