Committee reviews CHIP draft that would cap lifetime education tax increment at $40 million

House Ways & Means staff on Wednesday walked committee members through a rewritten draft of the CHIP (Community Housing Infrastructure Program) proposal that would limit the amount of education property tax increment that may be retained under the program to an aggregate $40,000,000 and change application and oversight procedures.

Committee counsel John (staff member) described the cap as tied to lifetime education property tax increment retention for each approved project rather than an annual per-project amount, saying, “FEPC shall not annually approve more than $40,000,000 in aggregate lifetime education property tax increment retention.”

The draft reorganizes several definitions — including what qualifies as an “improvement” (now explicitly naming digital or telecommunications infrastructure) and renames parts of the housing eligibility definitions to “middle income housing” and “middle income housing development” to clarify which projects may receive the larger increment retention. The bill creates a defined “lifetime education property tax increment retention” concept so the $40 million cap is measured against total retention over a project’s life rather than a single-year figure.

Staff said the draft also changes the board review step to make the board’s approval presumptive: the board would accept the recommending body’s application recommendation unless it actively determines…