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Sponsor Converts Property‑tax Rewrite to Study After Unresolved Transition Issues
Summary
Representative Nathan Toman told the committee he converted House Bill 1474 — an attempt to move from valuation-based residential property tax to a square‑footage approach — into a study after finding potential unintended tax increases for low‑value homes during transition.
Representative Nathan Toman introduced House Bill 1474 as an effort to reform residential property taxation by replacing market valuation with a square‑footage method for above‑grade residential structures and lots. He said the bill was converted to a study after the sponsor was unable to find a way to mitigate unintended tax increases on lower‑value properties during the transition.
Toman said switching to a square‑footage system could, without careful transition rules, raise taxes on owners of low‑valued homes that happen to sit on similarly sized lots as higher‑valued neighbors. “The problem I ran up against is not being able to mitigate the unintended consequences of having a tax raise on a low value property on a like size lot,” he told the committee.
The study would examine possible on‑ramps and off‑ramps, credit mechanisms, and whether other reforms such as buyouts of school mills would enable a move away from valuation. Sponsor Toman said he filed the study in conjunction with another school‑tax buyout proposal so the group of bills could be evaluated together during the upcoming property‑tax deliberations.
Senator Wallen asked whether the study would consider a valuation freeze as part of a transition; Toman said freezing or credit mechanisms could be options to evaluate. The hearing closed with members saying they would hold the measure as part of broader property‑tax work and revisit it after other property‑tax proposals were heard.
Ending: Committee members said they would consider study results together with other property‑tax proposals later in the session.
