Pence set to sign bill delaying new farmland taxes

INDIANAPOLIS — New calculations for property taxes on Indiana farmland will be delayed for a year under legislation that Gov. Mike Pence is set to sign in law.

Pence’s office says he plans to sign the bill Wednesday, making it the first new law he approves. It gained final legislative approval last week.

The legislation stops the state from using updated soil quality figures that were projected to lead to an average 25 percent increase in tax payments for farm owners.

Supporters of the delay say the new calculations could lead to $57 million in property taxes being shifted to farmland. The bill requires state tax officials and Purdue University agriculture researchers to prepare a review of the soil productivity measurement for the Legislature to consider next year.