Montgomery County: Crawfordsville's College-Town Assessment Cycle in 2026

Montgomery County in west-central Indiana is centered on Crawfordsville — county seat, home of Wabash College, and the commercial anchor for a county that's otherwise predominantly agricultural and small-residential. The county's tax base reflects that mix: a stable college and ancillary nonprofit footprint that's tax-exempt, a downtown commercial corridor, residential subdivisions ringing Crawfordsville, and substantial farmland in every direction.

For Montgomery owners, the 2026 cycle brings the statewide changes — SB 1 $300 homestead credit, supplemental deduction step-up to 40%, and the DLGF cost-table reset that drove statewide AVs up roughly 12% in 2025. Montgomery-specific items — the college-town tax-exempt footprint, the ag/residential split, and the downtown commercial corridor — layer on top.

Montgomery's tax statements mail by mid-April each year, with payments due May 11 and November 10. The Form 11 Notices of Assessment for the next assessment year arrive separately on April 28. Owners often confuse the two — one is the bill for last year's assessment, the other is the new assessment that drives next year's bill.

What a College-Town Tax Base Looks Like

Wabash College is a private, four-year liberal arts college with a substantial campus footprint just north of downtown Crawfordsville. Like virtually all private nonprofit colleges, the campus is exempt from property tax. The exemption affects Montgomery's tax base in three ways:

Reduced Taxable AV in the Immediate Vicinity

The Wabash campus and the surrounding nonprofit-owned land (athletic facilities, maintenance buildings, faculty housing on the institution's books) carry no AV. The county's overall taxable AV would be materially higher with that footprint included.

Stable Demand for Surrounding Residential

College towns carry sustained demand for nearby residential property — faculty housing, off-campus student housing converted to rentals, and visitor/parent-of-students short-term accommodations. That demand keeps Crawfordsville-area residential AVs supported even when the broader rural Indiana market softens.

Commercial Concentration Around Campus

Crawfordsville's downtown commercial corridor benefits from college-driven foot traffic. Restaurants, services, and retail tied to the college population produce commercial AV that's higher per square foot than equivalent commercial in non-college small cities.

The 2026 Statewide Changes in Montgomery

SB 1 $300 Homestead Credit

For a Crawfordsville homestead paying $1,400–$2,200 annually, the SB 1 credit is roughly $140–$220 — the 10% bill reduction.

Supplemental Deduction Step-Up

35% to 40% of post-standard-deduction AV. Applied automatically to homesteads on file.

DLGF Cost-Table Reset

Montgomery residential parcels generally tracked the state at roughly 12% AV growth for 2025-pay-2026. Downtown commercial parcels saw above-median pressure reflecting the construction-cost rebuild.

Crawfordsville Homestead Math

For a typical Crawfordsville homestead with a $165,000 AV:

Step	Calculation	Amount
Gross AV	—	$165,000
Less standard deduction	$48,000	$117,000
Less supplemental (40%)	40% × $117,000	$46,800
Net AV	—	$70,200
Tax rate (illustrative)	~$22 / $1,000	—
Gross tax	$70,200 × 0.022	$1,544
1% cap test	1% × $165,000	$1,650 (cap not binding)
Pre-credit	min(gross, cap)	$1,544
SB 1 credit	10% × $1,544, max $300	$154
Final annual tax	$1,544 − $154	$1,390

This is illustrative — actual Montgomery rates vary by taxing district. The pattern: Crawfordsville homesteads typically sit below the cap, the SB 1 credit applies at 10%, and the deduction step-up reduces the taxable base further.

Form 11 Items for Montgomery Owners

The 2026 Form 11 lists gross AV for the new assessment year, prior year's AV for comparison, the property class code, neighborhood code, deductions on file, and an estimate of next year's tax bill at currently certified rates.

The five items every Montgomery owner should verify on the day the Form 11 arrives — covered in the statewide Form 11 walkthrough:

Year-over-year AV change — anything over 12–15% on a stable parcel deserves a closer look
Land vs improvement split — particularly important on properties adjacent to college land
Property class code — student rental conversions sometimes drift between residential and commercial classes
Neighborhood code — Crawfordsville's neighborhood codes around the Wabash campus are tight; verify match
Deduction status — homestead, mortgage, age 65, disability, veteran flags

Student Rental Properties

Crawfordsville's off-campus student rental inventory presents specific assessment considerations:

Class Code

A house owner-occupied is class 510 territory if rented; class 511 (single-family rental) loses the 1% homestead cap and the SB 1 credit. Owners who acquired property as a primary residence and converted to rental need the class code updated; owners who bought property as a rental need to confirm the class code reflects the current use.

Income Approach Eligibility

Income-producing residential rental property in Indiana is eligible for income-approach valuation. For student rentals, the income approach typically produces a value below the cost approach because student rentals turn over more frequently and require more maintenance.

Multi-Unit Conversions

Larger houses converted to multi-unit student housing sometimes get reassessed as small apartments — a class change that affects both rate (3% cap rather than 2%) and method (income approach becomes more clearly applicable).

Agricultural Parcels

Outside Crawfordsville, Montgomery is heavily agricultural. The agricultural use value formula — set at the state level rather than tracked to local market — applies. The 2026 cycle for ag land continues the trend covered in Indiana farmland values 2026 and farmland prices per acre by county.

For mixed-use rural parcels (a house on 40 acres of farmland), the 2026 Form 11 separates:

Homesite valuation — the immediate building site (typically 1–2 acres) at residential value
Agricultural land valuation — remaining acreage at agricultural use value
Improvement valuation — house, outbuildings

Verify the homesite/ag split on the Form 11; misallocation between the two shifts the taxable base materially.

Filing an Appeal in Montgomery

Montgomery's PTABOA caseload is moderate — appeals here typically resolve in 4–8 months. The process:

File Form 130 with the Montgomery County Assessor's Office
Include 3–5 comparable sales from your specific neighborhood code
For student rentals: rent roll, operating statement, and turnover documentation
For ag-residential parcels: verify the homesite/ag boundary on the assessor's CAMA record
Filed by June 15, 2026 or 45 days from the Form 11 mailing date

The full process is covered in the Indiana property tax appeal guide.

Montgomery At a Glance

Metric	Montgomery County
Population (est.)	~38,000
Total parcels	~22,000
County seat	Crawfordsville
Major institutions	Wabash College
School corporations	Crawfordsville, North Montgomery, South Montgomery
Spring 2026 bill due	May 11, 2026
Form 11 mails	April 28, 2026
Appeal deadline	June 15, 2026 (or 45 days from Form 11)

What to Do This Spring

For Crawfordsville homestead owners: open the Form 11 the day it arrives, verify the five line items, and file Form 130 by June 15 if the AV looks unreasonable.

For student rental owners: verify the class code reflects current use; a homestead-class rental is misallocating tax benefits and risks losing them under audit.

For ag-residential parcels: verify the homesite/ag split — the boundary affects which AV portion gets the homestead deduction.

Property Lookup pulls Montgomery parcel data including comparable sales by neighborhood code, and Tax Appeal Automation builds the Form 130 + evidence package on contingency.