After election, some state lawmakers move to cancel local property tax cut
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Key Findings:
1. Some state lawmakers are proposing a bill to cancel a cut in local property taxes planned to go into effect on January 1, 2018.
2. In 2010, lawmakers passed temporary legislation to allow a short-term increase in local property taxes for schools.
3. At the time, legislative leaders stressed the measure was temporary and that rates would return to normal levels in 2018.
4. School administrators have known about the coming tax reduction for seven years, yet many are pushing lawmakers to cancel the tax cut.
5. Sponsors of the new bill say cancelling the tax cut would only be temporary, but of course that is what they said last time.
6. Keeping the promise to return to normal tax rates would assure the public that lawmakers were not lying when they passed the temporary bill, and it would increase confidence that school officials can plan for revenue changes they have known about for seven years.
Introduction
With the 2016 election over, some state lawmakers are considering a bill to break a commitment they made to the public six years ago not to raise local property taxes. The lawmakers want to cancel a promised return to lower tax rates planned for January 1, 2018.
In 2010, lawmakers passed temporary legislation to allow a short-term increase in local property taxes for schools. The bill weakened homeowner protections by allowing local officials to increase taxes from a district’s levy lid of 24 percent to 28 percent, representing a 16 percent increase in the tax burden placed on homeowners and business owners. Other changes in the temporary legislation allowed district officials to seek more levy money than in the past.
