The DLGF has certified Marion County's 2026 tax rates. The official numbers are in the 2026 Certified Tax Rates by District report (prepared February 26, 2026), and they tell a different story than most people expect. The eight Indianapolis consolidated-city districts — one per township — cluster within about five cents of each other, from $2.6830 (Pike) to $2.7291 (Center) per $100 of assessed value. The real spread in Marion County comes from the excluded cities, towns, and outside-city township districts, which run from $2.4269 (Franklin Township outside Indianapolis) all the way up to $4.2369 (Beech Grove's Center Township district) — a gap of about $1.81 per $100.
Here is the district-by-district breakdown for the 2026 tax year (taxes paid in 2026 on the January 1, 2025 assessment date) and what the rates mean for property owners in each district.
How a Marion County district rate is built
A composite rate for any Marion parcel is the sum of overlapping taxing units:
| Component | Source | Frozen by SB 1? |
|---|---|---|
| Marion County | County government | Operating: yes / Debt: no |
| City of Indianapolis | City government | Operating: yes / Debt: no |
| Township | One of nine townships | Operating: yes / Debt: no |
| School corporation | One of 11 (mostly aligned to townships) | Operating: yes / Debt: no / Referendum: no |
| Library | Indianapolis Public Library | Operating: yes / Debt: no |
| Health & Hospital (HHC) | Marion County HHC | Operating: yes / Debt: no |
| IndyGo / transit | Marion County transit | Operating: yes / Debt: no |
| Conservancy/special districts | Various | Varies |
The operating components are largely flat in dollar terms in 2026 (the freeze), so rate changes track AV growth in the inverse direction — bigger AV growth means a bigger rate drop. Debt service and referendum components are not frozen and are set by formula or voter approval.
2026 certified rates by district
These are the actual certified gross rates per $100 of assessed value from the DLGF's 2026 Certified Tax Rates by District report (prepared February 26, 2026). The certified rate is applied to your net AV before circuit breaker (cap) credits. Check the transparency portal for your specific parcel's district.
Indianapolis (consolidated city) districts — one per township:
| District | Township | 2026 certified rate (per $100) |
|---|---|---|
| 101 Indianapolis – Center | Center | $2.7291 |
| 901 Indianapolis – Wayne | Wayne | $2.7096 |
| 801 Indianapolis – Washington | Washington | $2.6932 |
| 401 Indianapolis – Lawrence | Lawrence | $2.6927 |
| 501 Indianapolis – Perry | Perry | $2.6923 |
| 701 Indianapolis – Warren | Warren | $2.6908 |
| 201 Indianapolis – Decatur | Decatur | $2.6899 |
| 601 Indianapolis – Pike | Pike | $2.6830 |
Excluded cities, towns, and outside-city districts (selected):
| District | Township | 2026 certified rate (per $100) |
|---|---|---|
| 102 Beech Grove – Center | Center | $4.2369 |
| 724 Town of Cumberland | Warren | $3.8817 |
| 900 Wayne Township (outside Indianapolis) | Wayne | $3.6418 |
| 914 Town of Speedway | Wayne | $3.1302 |
| 513 City of Southport | Perry | $2.8330 |
| 407 City of Lawrence | Lawrence | $2.6094 |
| 400 Lawrence Township (outside city) | Lawrence | $2.4530 |
| 300 Franklin Township (outside Indianapolis) | Franklin | $2.4269 |
Note: These are certified gross rates; they do not reflect the circuit breaker caps or the SB 1 credit, which are applied to your bill afterward. Your parcel's certified rate is on the transparency portal and on your fall tax bill.
What's driving the spread
The $1.81 spread between Franklin Township outside Indianapolis ($2.4269) and Beech Grove's Center Township district ($4.2369) is the real headline. Notice what is not driving it: the choice of township inside Indianapolis. All eight consolidated-city districts sit within a 4.6-cent band ($2.6830 to $2.7291), so moving from Pike to Center barely moves the certified rate. The spread comes from three structural sources:
1. Excluded-city stacking
Beech Grove runs its own city government and its own school corporation on a small AV base, and its districts top the county in all four townships it touches — $4.1986 (Warren) to $4.2369 (Center). The Town of Cumberland ($3.8817) tells a similar story: a full slate of municipal and school levies spread over a limited tax base. Compare that with the City of Lawrence, whose $2.6094 rate actually comes in about 8 cents below the Indianapolis–Lawrence district ($2.6927).
2. School corporation boundaries
The school component is the single largest piece of a Marion composite rate, and it shows up wherever school corporation lines diverge from city lines. Speedway's separate school corporation puts the Town of Speedway at $3.1302, about 42 cents above the neighboring Indianapolis–Wayne district ($2.7096). And the Perry Township territory served by Beech Grove schools but outside the city (district 520) is certified at $3.6141 — roughly 84 cents above Perry Township outside Indianapolis ($2.7788) — almost entirely a school-district effect.
3. Inside vs. outside the consolidated city
The county's lowest rates belong to the outside-city township districts that skip city-level components: Franklin outside ($2.4269), Lawrence outside ($2.4530), Washington outside ($2.4861), and Pike outside ($2.5525). The glaring exception is Wayne Township outside Indianapolis at $3.6418 — one of the highest rates in the county and nearly a dollar above Indianapolis–Wayne — showing that township- and school-level levies (including debt service and referendum overlays, neither of which is frozen by SB 1) can swamp the savings from avoiding city rates.
What the rate means for your bill
Start with a homestead: $250K gross AV, $130K in deductions, net AV $120K. The 1% cap is $2,500 (1% of gross AV). With this deduction profile, the cap binds whenever the certified rate exceeds about $2.08 per $100 ($2,500 ÷ $1,200) — and every 2026 Marion County district rate clears that bar, from Franklin outside ($2.4269) on up:
| District | Net AV | Rate / $100 | Gross tax | 1% cap | Final bill (with SB 1 credit) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300 Franklin outside (lowest rate) | $120,000 | $2.4269 | $2,912.28 | $2,500 | $2,250 |
| 101 Indianapolis – Center | $120,000 | $2.7291 | $3,274.92 | $2,500 | $2,250 |
| 102 Beech Grove – Center (highest rate) | $120,000 | $4.2369 | $5,084.28 | $2,500 | $2,250 |
Same final bill in all three — $2,500 capped, minus the SB 1 supplemental credit of 10% of the bill (here $250; the $300 ceiling only binds on bills above $3,000). At these rates, a typical $250K homestead is cap-bound in every Marion County district, so the certified rate spread makes no difference to the bill. The rate only matters directly for homesteads whose deductions push gross tax under the cap — at Indianapolis–Center's $2.7291 rate, that takes deductions large enough to leave net AV below roughly 37% of gross AV.
Rentals fare the same way: other-residential property gets a 2% cap and essentially no deductions, so the cap binds whenever the rate exceeds $2.00 — which every Marion district does. A $250K rental in the Indianapolis–Center district would compute $6,822.75 of gross tax but pay the $5,000 cap, and it pays that same $5,000 in every district in the county.
Where rates still bite is commercial and industrial property, with its 3% cap. All eight Indianapolis districts (and every outside-city district except Wayne) are certified below $3.00, so commercial parcels there pay the full computed tax and the rate spread flows straight to the bill. A $500K commercial parcel (3% cap = $15,000):
| District | Rate / $100 | Gross tax | 3% cap | Bill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300 Franklin outside | $2.4269 | $12,134.50 | $15,000 | $12,134.50 |
| 101 Indianapolis – Center | $2.7291 | $13,645.50 | $15,000 | $13,645.50 |
| 914 Town of Speedway | $3.1302 | $15,651.00 | $15,000 | $15,000.00 |
| 900 Wayne outside | $3.6418 | $18,209.00 | $15,000 | $15,000.00 |
| 102 Beech Grove – Center | $4.2369 | $21,184.50 | $15,000 | $15,000.00 |
That is a $2,865.50 swing between the county's lowest-rate district and any cap-bound district for the same commercial AV.
Note
At 2026 certified rates, the 1% homestead cap and the 2% rental cap bind at typical valuations in every Marion County district, so the rate spread is invisible on those bills. Rate differences show up on commercial/industrial bills (3% cap) in the many districts certified below $3.00, and on any parcel whose deductions keep gross tax under its cap.
What this means for 2026 bills
For Marion homestead owners with net AV in the $100K–$200K range:
- Cap binds at every 2026 certified rate in the county for typical deduction profiles — the bill is 1% of gross AV, not net AV times the rate
- SB 1 supplemental credit (10% of the bill, up to $300) then reduces the cap-bound amount, and is the most visible line item on the bill
- Certified rate only drives the bill directly if deductions push gross tax under the cap
For non-homestead parcels:
- Rentals (2% cap): every Marion district rate exceeds $2.00, so at typical valuations the bill is simply 2% of AV — the district doesn't matter
- Commercial/industrial (3% cap): the rate matters in every district certified below $3.00 (all eight Indianapolis districts and the outside-city districts except Wayne), and caps out in the high-rate districts (Beech Grove, Cumberland, Wayne outside, Speedway, Homecroft, and the Beech Grove school-territory districts)
- No SB 1 credit applies to non-homestead parcels
How to verify your own rate
- Go to the DLGF transparency portal.
- Enter your Marion County parcel number (18 digits, on your Form 11 or via property lookup).
- Review the line-item rate breakdown — county, city, township, school, library, HHC, transit, debt service. The sum is your composite.
- Compare against 2025 to identify which component (operating, debt, referendum) drove your specific change.
If your composite went up despite the freeze, the most likely cause is increased debt service in your school district or a referendum that passed (or began amortizing).
What to do
- Pull your 2026 composite rate from the transparency portal.
- Map the components to identify what's driving your rate.
- Check cap-binding status — calculate gross tax (net AV × rate) vs. the 1% cap on gross AV.
- Confirm the SB 1 credit is on your bill.
- If your AV looks high — Form 11 was your notice; the June 15 Form 130 deadline is the appeal window.
Related reading
- Marion County 2026 budget order: where the dollars go
- Marion County's 9 townships: rate variance explained
- Indiana property tax rates by county 2026
- Indiana property tax caps and circuit breakers
- Indianapolis property tax cap exposure explained
- Indiana property tax transparency portal guide
- Marion County 2026 Form 11 notices: appeal window