Finance and Taxation committee advances amended property tax bill, sends HB1168 to appropriations

The Senate Finance and Taxation Committee voted to give House Bill 1168 a "due pass" and re-refer it to the Appropriations Committee after agreeing to a set of amendments that add a disclosure for voter-approved levy 2109 on property tax statements, expand the bill's property-class language and change several reporting deadlines, Chairman Weber said.

The amendments require that property tax statements show the mill levy tied to the local school bond (identified in committee materials as levy 2109), add commercial, centrally assessed and non-primary residential categories to legislative intent language, and adjust multiple statutory deadline dates to May 31 or April 1 where noted. The committee also agreed that remaining concerns about school funding calculations should be addressed in conference committee.

The changes to disclosure and deadlines were presented to the committee by Shelly Myers, State Supervisor of Assessments, who said the tax department and the Association of Counties had agreed on revised dates to make the bill "workable for both sides." Myers told the committee the amendment text had been updated across multiple pages and that particular deadlines were changed to May 31 and April 1 or had dates removed where the county treasurer's 14-day window made a fixed date unnecessary.

Adam Tesher, School Finance Officer for the Department of Public Instruction, warned of a school-funding interaction the committee had not fully resolved. Tesher said the bill's 3% cap on levy growth, as written, could shift funding from the state to local districts when a district's taxable value grows faster than the cap. "If a school district experiences growth greater than that 3% ... they are still going to be not required, but the formula is still going to assume the 60 mils," Tesher said. "The state funding formula ... will decrease that school district's funding dollar for dollar for that 5%." He said that outcome could force districts to cut other levies or reduce dollars in building or miscellaneous funds to comply with the cap, producing an effective funding reduction to the district.

Committee members said they had tried earlier amendments to address the school funding concern; Chairman Weber and other senators said they expect remaining issues to be resolved in conference committee. Senator Powers asked whether separate caps or a different approach could avoid the funding shift; Tesher replied that separate caps have been discussed but would interact with the state funding formula and the per-pupil payment amounts currently reflected in ongoing legislation.

Votes at a glance: The committee first approved a motion to give the amended draft (listed in committee materials as 25.00440.08006) a due pass and re-refer it to Appropriations; Chairman Weber moved the motion and Senator Rummel seconded it. The committee later approved a due-pass recommendation on House Bill 1168 as amended; the motion was seconded by Senator Wallen and the committee designated a carrier to shepherd the bill. Roll-call votes recorded by the clerk were unanimous among members present.

The committee chair closed the session noting the committee would return later to consider a gas tax bill and one other pending item.