"The bill has already passed in the House," Walorski said. "Now the Senate is piecing it apart and taking a look at each part of it as they make amendments and pass it through. March 1 it will face the last step in becoming a reality."

House Bill 1001 was outlined by Walorski and made accessible to visitors at the legislative update meeting. Her outline showed the following elements already approved by the Indiana House of Representatives:

* $700 million in new property tax relief in 2008 (in addition to the $250 million in already scheduled relief).

* Approximately $300 million in new property tax relief in 2009, which will bring the total new relief under this plan to approximately $1 billion in 2009.

* Homestead property taxes will be capped at 1 percent of gross assessed value.

* Residential rental property taxes will be capped at an estimated 2 percent of gross assessed value.

* All other property taxes will be capped at 3 percent of gross assessed values.

"We have also gone back and made an amendment to include farmers in that 2 percent cap," Walorski said.

The bill further outlines:

* All state tax revenues dedicated to PTRC will be re-directed to the general fund for property tax relief.

* Sales tax will increase from the current 6 percent to 7 percent.

* Annual wagering taxes from slot machines at the horse tracks will be redirected to the state general fund for property tax relief.

House Bill 1001 also provides property tax relief through measures to allow the state more responsibility to burden some local costs. These areas include:

* Balance of K-12 school operating funds (effective Jan. 1, 2009) which would freeze school shares of CAGIT and Excise Tax.

* Transportation Fund Levy eliminated. This allows an appropriation for school transportation comparable to the transportation tax levy in 2007 with authorized increase for 2008.

* Child Welfare levy eliminated which makes an appropriation for child welfare.

* The State Fair and State Forestry Levies, too, would be eliminated.

Each area would go into effect, Jan. 1, 2009.

Reasoning behind these measures is to ensure security that property taxes will not have to risk being increased to take care of these areas because state assistance is helping to fund each area.

"It's gonna be real hard for people to grasp the reality of this at first," Walorski said. "They're gonna hear us telling them that we're gonna do all this stuff, and that their property taxes are going down, but they won't see it until 2009. So they will still be paying these higher taxes this year."

An expanded homestead deduction will reduce assessed property values by 35 percent.