Changes the Indiana legislature made to property taxes last year generated modest bill reductions for many homeowners but also affected tax bills for small businesses and major employers this year.
Here are some examples of how tax bills changed from 2025 to 2026 for select Monroe County properties. The changes below are not solely the result of the legislation, as tax bills are affected by many things, including property assessments and whether owners have made improvements. Changes typically also vary depending on property type.
A 1,320-square-foot, 3-bedroom single-family home on a 0.19-acre lot on Bay Hill Court, on the city’s far west side, is a good example of the kind of home that got a representative tax break. In 2024, that homeowner paid $1,822 in property taxes. The tax bill rose to $1,837 in 2025 but this year dropped by $159, to $1,677, according to tax bill data provided by the county.
Julie Thomas, president of the Monroe County commissioners, who lives northeast of Bloomington, saw the tax bill on her 3,208-square-foot, two-bedroom house fall by $134, to $2,511.
Bloomington Deputy Mayor Gretchen Knapp, who lives in the Elm Heights Historic District, got a tax bill on her 3,168-square-foot, three-bedroom home this year of $5,053, down $440. Information on Mayor Kerry Thomson’s primary home is no longer available on the county’s GIS website.
Bloomington City Council President Isak Asare, who lives on the city’s northeast side, was billed $4,372 for his 3,412-square-foot, four-bedroom home, down $343 from last year.
IU basketball coach Darian Devries, who lives near Asare, saw the tax bill on his 11,303-square-foot, six-bedroom mansion fall by $1,663 to $14,660.
And IU football coach Curt Cignetti, who lives southeast of Bloomington, got a tax bill of $24,813 on his 9,269-square-foot, eight-bedroom mansion. That was $2,623 less than last year. The assessed valuation of the home had risen in the last year by $440,000, to $2.46 million.
The owners of the Relato, a large apartment complex on the city’s northeast side, got a tax bill this year of $836,000, down $67,000, or 7%, from the prior year.
The owners of the Standard, a large apartment complex on 14th Street, this year were asked to pay property taxes of $2,346,203, down nearly $155,000, or 6%, from 2025.
Cook Medical saw the property tax bill on part of its headquarters property, on the city’s west side, jump by 34%, to nearly $916,000.
The owner of the building that houses the Uptown Cafe, on Kirkwood Avenue, this year got a property tax bill of nearly $64,000, down 19%, or just over $10,000.
The Indiana University Trustees this year received a tax bill for their commercial property at 512 E. Kirkwood, which houses Lennie’s, of $27,921, up 19% from a year ago. Trustees and the IU Foundation own lots of property in Bloomington. They don’t generally have to pay property taxes if the property is used for educational purposes. However, when they use property for commercial purposes or for rental housing, they do incur property taxes in most cases.
For example, the trustees own a 1,152-square-foot, four-bedroom home at 528 N. Indiana Ave. The tax bill for that property for this year is $4,799, or about $174 less than last year.
In Ellettsville, the owners of the property at 120 W. Temperance St., which houses the Hawaiian Hoosier, saw their tax bill increase 5% this year, to $3,789.
And in Stinesville, property taxes on the building that houses Stinesville Merchantile, at 8205 W. Main, jumped 25%, to $1,757.
A large apartment complex, The Avenue on College, between Eighth and Ninth streets, saw the largest nominal property tax bill reduction from 2025 to 2026. The owner, Smallwood Plaza Propco LLC, got a tax bill of $934,000 this year, down $207,000 from the prior year. The property is assessed at about $47 million.
A new apartment complex at 2038 N. Walnut St. saw the largest nominal increase this year. The owner, Core Bloomington Walnut LLC, saw its tax bill go to nearly $1.2 million, up from $13,500 the prior year. The property was assessed last year at $59 million, up from $656,000 in 2024.
Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Property tax shifts hit homeowners, businesses across Monroe County
Reporting by Boris Ladwig, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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