Johnson County Veterans Affairs

Every Indiana county employs a county veterans service officer (IC 10-17-1-9); the Indiana entry explains the office. Johnson County's page: "The Johnson County Veterans Affairs office is here to assist veterans and their families with VA disability and educational benefits." 18 W Jefferson St, Franklin, IN 46131; (317) 346-4563; Monday to Friday 8 to 12 and 1 to 4:30, by appointment only. Director Megan Brown and VSO Scott Denney. The 2026 reform, as the office explains it. Its flyer "Indiana Veteran Property Tax Reform 2026": "Total property tax relief for 100% Service Connected and Individual Unemployable veterans. Eliminates all assessed value caps. Simplifies tax structure with bottom-line credits." And: "All Indiana veterans and surviving spouses currently receiving Indiana Disabled Veteran Property Tax Deductions, and new applicants, MUST register for property tax credits. You must bring a completed and signed State Form 51186 to your County Auditor's Office. The State Form 51186 can be completed at your County Veteran Service Office." When: "After July 1, 2026 and before Dec. 30, 2026"; the benefit begins with the 2027 tax bill. The flyer's tiers: 100% or IU, a 100% deduction; 10% to 90% with wartime service and over 62, a $600 credit; 10% to 90% and wartime service, $350; 10% to 90% and over 62, $250. A surviving spouse qualifies if the veteran qualified at death and the spouse owns or is buying the home. What the flyer has wrong. It was made on March 12, 2026, the day House Enrolled Act 1210 was signed, before the State settled the form. The form is State Form 12662 (revision 20, June 2026), not State Form 51186, which the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs now says "is no longer used", and the deadline is January 15, 2027, not December 30, 2026. Its $600 tier is the $350 and $250 credits taken together, which the Department of Local Government Finance says a veteran may do. File State Form 12662 with the County Auditor by January 15, 2027 for taxes due in 2027; a totally disabled veteran who had the old $14,000 deduction must file again to get the new 100% deduction, or the county applies only the $250 credit. The Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs says State Form 51186 "is no longer used", and the service officer can complete the form's Section VIII certificate. See the Indiana entries on the 100 percent deduction and the $350 and $250 credits.