Latest Updates From Sen. Spencer Deery

BMV Kiosk Opening at West Lafayette Meijer

The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) announced this week that it has installed a BMV Connect kiosk in the West Lafayette Meijer located at 2636 U.S. 52.

The new kiosk is part of a plan announced in December as the BMV’s West Lafayette branch was set to close.

This plan included moving the Lafayette branch to a larger location at 2200 Elmwood Ave., Suite A6.

After the announcement of the West Lafayette branch closure, I began working with BMV, first to see if the branch could be saved, and then to try and make the transition as smooth as possible.

While the kiosk doesn’t replace the loss of a full BMV branch, it will still be a helpful asset to the community. I am grateful to the BMV for following through on that promise. Hoosiers can conduct more than a dozen types of transactions at the new kiosk, including registering a new vehicle, renewing a vehicle registration and renewing a driver’s license.

As the home of Purdue University, West Lafayette has a large international community with a need for easy access to a full BMV branch. Last November, on the day before I took the oath of office, I started meeting with the BMV to brainstorm ways to make sure the BMV met the unique needs of our community. You can read more about the agreement we reached here.

Providing Tax Relief

The 2023 legislative session ended last week, and as your state senator, I was happy to support legislation to provide tax relief for Hoosiers.

The new state budget speeds up planned income-tax cuts, dropping Indiana’s tax rate to 2.9% by 2027. This cut could save Hoosiers over $100 million next year and over $1 billion in the next five years.

To help senior citizens in Indiana, I supported a new law to expand eligibility for the property-tax deduction and property-tax credit for senior-citizen homeowners. This will allow the income limit for these benefits to grow every year based on the cost-of-living increase for Social Security to help seniors who initially qualify not lose eligibility as their retirement income grows.

I also supported a law to reduce property-tax bills for outbuildings and improvements on a person’s property, such as decks, patios, gazebos and pools. These structures will be subject to a lower property-tax cap next year, and many taxpayers will be able to apply the homestead deduction to these structures.

Perhaps most important in the long run, Senate Enrolled Act 3 establishes a State and Local Tax Review Task Force to study all aspects of Indiana’s tax system – property taxes included. While this review will take time, I believe it will allow us to come up with long-term, big-picture ways to make Indiana’s tax system work better, instead of making piecemeal changes every few years.

Indiana’s solid fiscal position has been made possible thanks to years of hard work from Statehouse Republicans. We will continue to provide strong fiscal leadership, which will benefit Hoosiers now and years to come.

Grants for Veteran Services

Nonprofit organizations serving Indiana’s veterans can apply for Grants for Veterans’ Services from the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs.

Applicants must serve veterans in the following ways:

• Working to eliminate homelessness and providing safe living conditions;
• Assisting veterans in moving from public housing assistance programs to home ownership or stable, long-term rental status;
• Assisting veterans in finding and using federal and state resources;
• Providing therapeutic services;
• Providing job training and job search assistance; and
• Preventing veteran suicide.

The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. on Monday, May 15.