Twice a year, Indiana property owners without a mortgage escrow write two of the largest checks in their household budget: the spring installment due May 10 and the fall installment due November 10. For a retiree on a fixed monthly income, that lump-sum rhythm is the hardest part of the property tax system — harder, often, than the tax itself.
Senate Enrolled Act 163, signed by the Governor on March 5, 2026 and now Public Law 114, takes a first formal step toward changing that rhythm. The act orders the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) to report on how counties handle monthly and electronic property tax payments today — groundwork for any future statewide monthly payment option. The same act quietly extends Indiana's affordable and workforce housing tax credit for five extra years.
Here is what the act requires, why monthly payments matter, and what options already exist for spreading payments out right now.
What SEA 163 Actually Does
SEA 163 ("Various property tax matters," authored by Sen. Linda Rogers) is a grab bag, and the payment study is only one piece. The enrolled act:
- Requires taxpayer permission before a county board or assessing official enters a property for a physical inspection during an appeal.
- Tightens the rules for who may serve as a tax representative in assessment appeals, including written taxpayer authorization effective no more than one year.
- Extends the county option circuit breaker credit by one year (through property taxes first due and payable by December 31, 2028).
- Extends the affordable and workforce housing tax credit program from 2028 to 2033.
- Orders three DLGF reports to the interim study committee on fiscal policy — on automated valuation systems, on alternatives to annual trending and cost tables, and on county payment systems.
The payment-systems report is the one with the most direct pocketbook implications for ordinary owners.
The Monthly Payment Study, in the Act's Own Terms
Section 9 of the enrolled act — effective upon passage — directs the DLGF to prepare a report on "county and electronic Internet payment systems with which taxpayers may make property tax payments." The statute lists exactly five things the report must contain:
| # | What the DLGF must report |
|---|---|
| 1 | How many counties allow monthly payments, and whether those payments are made by electronic funds transfer |
| 2 | What it costs a county to allow monthly payments by electronic funds transfer |
| 3 | Whether the county charges the user a fee |
| 4 | The percentage of taxpayers that pay property taxes on a monthly basis |
| 5 | How the county confirms that the property taxes are paid timely |
The report goes to the interim study committee on fiscal policy on or before November 1, 2026, and the study provision itself expires July 1, 2027. In other words: this is a fact-finding exercise on a one-year clock, designed to put real data — county costs, fees, adoption rates — in front of the legislators who would draft any statewide monthly payment system.
Note
AARP Indiana, which tracked the bill through the 2026 session, framed the study as a step toward payment options that are "more manageable and budget-friendly" — particularly for older adults balancing property taxes against every other rising cost on a fixed income.
Why Monthly Payments Matter: Escrow vs. Everyone Else
Indiana already has a de facto monthly payment system — but only for owners with a mortgage escrow. If your lender escrows, a slice of your annual tax bill rides along with every mortgage payment, and the servicer remits the lump sums on your behalf each May 10 and November 10. Recent law changes even reshaped how escrowed homeowners see their tax savings; we covered that in our guide to escrow and mortgage payments after SEA 1.
Everyone else — owners who have paid off the house, bought with cash, or waived escrow — faces the two-lump-sum schedule. That group skews older, which is why the fixed-income angle keeps coming up. A $2,400 annual bill is a manageable $200 a month; as two $1,200 checks, it becomes a cash-flow event to plan around, with late penalties waiting if you miss.
The study's cost and fee questions matter just as much. If the data show monthly electronic collection is cheap to run and already working in some counties, the case for a uniform statewide option gets much stronger. High processing costs or vendor fees passed to taxpayers would argue for a slower path.
What Could Change, and When
Nothing about your bills changes yet. The fall installment due November 10, 2026 is still due in full on that date, and the May 10 / November 10 framework remains the law.
The realistic sequence looks like this:
- By November 1, 2026 — the DLGF presents its report to the interim study committee on fiscal policy.
- Fall 2026 — the committee reviews the findings alongside SEA 163's other mandated reports (automated valuation systems, alternatives to trending and cost tables) and can recommend legislation.
- 2027 session and beyond — any statewide monthly payment mandate or standardized program would need a new bill. There is no guarantee one emerges; the study creates the evidence base, not the obligation.
Options That Exist Today for Spreading Payments
You do not have to wait for the study. Indiana law already gives counties two mechanisms under IC 6-1.1-22-9.7:
- Monthly payment plan by ordinance. A county fiscal body may adopt an ordinance letting taxpayers pay through a monthly plan — including automatic monthly deductions from a bank account — over a payment period of up to 12 months (December 1 of the preceding year through November 30). Taxpayers who stay current on the plan are not considered delinquent and avoid the standard late penalties, with a reconciling statement settling any difference at the end.
- Partial payments through the treasurer. If the county has not adopted an ordinance, the county treasurer must develop and implement a plan to accept partial payments and notify taxpayers of the option.
Marion County is a working example: the Treasurer's office offers Flex Pay (monthly payments), Auto Pay, and scheduled payments through its portal at indy.gov. Ask your own county treasurer about monthly or partial payment plans — availability varies county to county, which is precisely the patchwork the DLGF report is meant to document.
Tip
Spreading payments is about cash flow, not the size of the bill. Qualifying homeowners age 65 and older have a separate tool for the bill itself: the state's deferral program, covered in our guide to the Indiana homestead property tax deferral program.
The Other Half of SEA 163: Housing Credit Extended to 2033
The act's second headline provision extends Indiana's affordable and workforce housing tax credit (IC 6-3.1-35). Applications, previously cut off on January 1, 2028, may now be submitted before January 1, 2033, and the program's expiration moves from July 1, 2028 to July 1, 2033.
The annual cap is unchanged — up to $30 million in state credits per fiscal year, awarded alongside federal low-income housing tax credits. The practical effect is five more years of a financing tool that helps affordable projects pencil out.
Keep the Bill Right Before You Split It Into Payments
A monthly plan makes a correct bill easier to pay. It does nothing about an incorrect one. Before you set up any payment plan, confirm the assessed value behind the bill is defensible — start with our Indiana property explorer or a county page like Marion County to compare your assessment against similar properties.
If the number looks high, our property lookup tool pulls your assessment history and comparable sales in one place, and our tax appeal service builds and files the evidence package. The cheapest payment plan is one calculated on a value you actually owe.