Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tax Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Legislators discuss vetting for likely tax commissioner and homestead exemption modeling
Summary
Committee members said ethics guidance and vetting steps are underway for a prospective tax commissioner; lawmakers also heard that administration modeling on a proposed homestead exemption shows potential winners and losers, with concern for senior homeowners.
Legislators discussed steps to vet a likely nominee for tax commissioner and reviewed initial modeling of a proposed homestead exemption during a Finance Committee meeting.
A committee member said the ethics commission provided a list of questions indicating "there's no inherent problem unless the nominee is receiving funds that are based on the performance of the company he formerly worked for." The committee agreed to forward those questions to the nominee and to coordinate vetting with central administration offices. One member said Sandra Brock would be the committee’s designated questioner and would help compose an email to the administration.
"We did get this list of questions from the ethics commission basically saying there's no inherent problem unless the nominee is receiving funds that are based on the performance of the company he formerly worked for," a committee member said. The committee also planned to ask administration staff on the "5th floor" whether they vet candidates and to request results of any prior vetting.
Separately, staff reported that the administration provided runs on a proposed homestead exemption tied to property value; a committee member said the administration had produced modeling showing "winners and losers." The transcript included a reference to approximately $10,000,000 mentioned in the governor's budget that an AOE official characterized as money already allocated to projects or funds rather than new programmatic spending.
Committee members said initial modeling suggested senior homeowners in high-value communities could be among the groups with potential negative impacts. "My gut says you're going to have an awful lot of unhappy senior citizens, especially in high value communities that have owned their house for 50 years but are living on Social Security," one legislator said.
No formal appointment action or vote was recorded in the transcript. Committee members said they expect further inquiry and that Joint Fiscal Office modeling and administration responses to ethics and vetting questions would be requested before any formal confirmation or appointment steps proceed.
