House committee holds HB 74 and advances RS 32441 to make $100 million in property-tax relief ongoing

The House Revenue and Taxation Committee on Feb. 21 held public testimony and then voted to hold House Bill 74 in committee and to introduce RS 32441, a sponsor-drafted substitute that would convert a one-time homeowners tax-relief allocation into ongoing funding and add $50 million to the school facilities fund.

Representative Jason Monks, sponsor and a Republican from District 22, told the committee the two measures are intended to preserve the original dollar amounts while changing the duration of one portion from one-time to ongoing. "The new RS does the exact same thing, both of those ongoing," Monks said, adding that the changes simplify language by pulling both allocations from the same source.

The measures trace to House Bill 292, which established two property-tax relief accounts: a School Facilities Fund and a Homeowners Property Tax Relief Account. Monks told the committee the School Facilities Fund is applied in a cascading sequence that pays school bonds and levies…