Conference committee reviews House-led amendments to House Bill 1176 on property-tax changes

The conference committee on House Bill 1176 met to review a House-proposed conference committee amendment that would change how the state distributes earnings from the Legacy Earnings Fund and make several alterations to property-tax relief, levy limitations and administrative procedures.

Megan Gordon, Legislative Council staff, told committee members the amendment would replace the Senate’s second-half changes and be drafted from the reengrossed House version. "This would be in place of the amendments that the senate put on, in the first half," Gordon said as she walked members through the proposed amendment by page and section.

The amendment would increase the percent of earnings distributed from the Legacy Earnings Fund each biennium from 7% to 8%. After bond payments, the remainder would be allocated 25% to the highway fund for road projects and 75% to the legacy property tax relief fund to support the primary residence credit (PRC), Gordon said.

The House proposal also removes language in the bill that would have expanded the homestead tax credit while keeping a separate change that raises the renters' refund maximum credit from $400 to $600. Gordon said the overstruck language would remove the proposed homestead expansion and noted, "we believed, that at our existing homestead levels, they're gonna be covered with…