Committee advances House Bill 304 to add $100 million annually for property tax relief

House Bill 304, the committee action and effect The Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee voted to send House Bill 304 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation after sponsor Senator Scott Grove (District 14) described how the bill automatically allocates $50 million a year to the school facilities fund and $50 million a year to the homeowner property tax relief fund.

Why it matters Committee testimony said the split will lower taxable assessments statewide: the school facilities fund contribution was estimated to reduce taxes by about 5.12% for all property taxpayers, while the homeowner fund would reduce taxes for homestead-exemption homeowners by about 5.4%, producing an aggregate reduction of roughly 10.5% off initial assessed tax amounts for homeowners.

Details and timeline Senator Scott Grove, sponsor, told the committee the state controller will make the transfers automatically each year and emphasized the relief would apply in the current fiscal year. "This will affect your property taxes this year," Grove said, and he said reductions should be visible on November tax statements. Grove explained the homeowner savings example: "So if you had a tax assessed by the county of a thousand dollars, your 10.5 percent would come off that thousand dollars, so you'd have the hundred and $5 of savings." He also explained counties and other local taxing entities would receive the full levy amounts because the state funds make up the difference.

Questions and committee view Committee members asked whether the bill takes effect immediately; Grove confirmed it would affect the current year. Senators in the committee praised the bill as responsive to constituent concerns and emphasized it is intended to provide continuous, ongoing annual funding rather than a one-time payment.

Action taken A motion to send House Bill 304 to the floor with a do-pass recommendation was made and seconded; the committee voiced the affirmative and the motion carried. Senator Grove was identified in committee as the member who will carry the bill to the full Senate.

What the record does and does not say The committee record provides the statutory allocation amounts and the sponsor's estimates of percentage impacts; it does not provide an independent fiscal analysis in the transcript excerpts offered to the committee, nor a line-by-line fiscal note in the spoken record included here. The transcript attributes the percentage estimates to the sponsor and to bill text references but does not show a detailed calculation in the spoken record.

Next steps The bill will be taken to the Senate floor for further consideration.