Sec. 1. (a) The purpose of this article is to consolidate and simplify the various local income tax laws (referred to as a “former tax” in this article) that are in effect on May 1, 2016, into a uniform law that transitions each county from the former taxes to the tax governed by this article.

     (b) Notwithstanding the effective date of the repeal of the former tax laws on January 1, 2017, an adopting body may not adopt any ordinances under a former tax after June 30, 2016. In addition, notwithstanding the effective date of this article being July 1, 2015, an adopting body may not take any action under this article before July 1, 2016.

     (c) To carry out the transition, the office of management and budget, along with the appropriate state agencies and in cooperation with each county, shall do the following:

(1) Document all terms, conditions, limitations, and obligations that exist under the former taxes.

(2) Categorize the tax rate under the former taxes into the appropriate tax rate or rates under this article to provide revenue for all the same purposes for which revenue under a former tax was used in 2016, except to the extent required under this article and to the extent that an adopting body takes action under this article after June 30, 2016, to change the purposes and allocation of the revenue as permitted under this article. Matching the purposes of a former tax to the purposes under this article, including the apportionment, allocation, and distribution of revenue under this article shall be accomplished by using the best information available. These purposes include, but are not limited to, one (1) or more of the following:

(A) Property tax credits using the options set forth in IC 6-3.6-5. This categorization is limited to former tax rates that were dedicated to providing credits against property taxes under IC 6-3.5-1.1-26 (repealed), IC 6-3.5-6 (repealed), or IC 6-3.5-7 (repealed).

(B) School corporation distributions and additional revenue. All former tax rates not used for a specified project or categorized under clause (A) shall be categorized under IC 6-3.6-6 using the former tax rates or dollar amounts that were dedicated for school corporation distributions, public safety, economic development, and certified shares.

(C) A special purpose project (IC 6-3.6-7) using the former tax rate that was dedicated to the project.

     (d) The transition under this article shall be completed by August 1, 2016, for purposes of local government budgets for 2017 and for purposes of the distribution and allocation of revenue under this article after December 31, 2016.

As added by P.L.243-2015, SEC.10. Amended by P.L.197-2016, SEC.39; P.L.130-2018, SEC.28.