Indiana Farm Bureau names taxes, local water rights as 2025 legislative priorities
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The Indiana Farm Bureau will focus its lobbying efforts on property taxes and water access during the 2025 legislative session, the organization announced Thursday.
In its legislative priorities announcement, INFB said it would focus on those two issues because they could have a long-term impact on two of its overall priorities: protecting the ability to farm and food security.
“Neither of these policy priorities is new to INFB or Hoosier farmers,” said Andy Tauer, INFB executive director of public policy, in a written statement. “INFB formed tax and water task forces with members and subject matter experts who dug deeper into these specific issues that farmers are dealing with daily. Those discussions helped inform the priorities we will be advocating for at the Indiana Statehouse.”
Local control in state economic development projects has become a top priority in several areas around the state following water-distribution issues tied to a massive state project in Boone County.
Lawmakers pushed off debate for a state water plan and water-focused local control measures last session, but the issue is expected to be prominent this time around.
The INFB wants new farmland protections to protect Hoosier farmers from the negative consequences of large groundwater withdrawals. The current state code is sparse concerning water-quantity protections and management. The group also supports the creation of a statewide groundwater supply monitoring network.
The state’s largest agricultural lobbyist group also seeks to lower tax burdens for its members—a recurring annual priority. INFB wants the legislature to create a more predictable tax system so that tax increases over time are more manageable. It supports modernization of farmland taxation, realignment of tax groups based on demand for services and ability to pay, and rebalancing property and income taxes.
The base rate of farmland property taxes rose by 17% in 2023 and 26.4% in 2024, INFB said. Coupled with rising operations costs, the organization said in a news release it’s worried the trend will make it harder for farmers to break even.
The next legislative session, set to begin in January, will be a busy one for the Indiana General Assembly with a new governor in office pushing his or her agenda and a slate of summer committees returning with findings. The biennial state budget will also be up for renewal.
INFB will meet with lawmakers at their annual Organization Day on Nov. 19 at the Statehouse.