Tax commissioner asks for 1‑year delay on telecom tax transition, outlines childcare payroll administration and renter‑credit changes

Tax Commissioner Craig Bolio appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday to discuss Budget Adjustment Act language affecting the tax department and to answer senators’ questions about several standing programs and recent reforms.

Bolio asked the committee to approve a one‑year effective‑date delay for parts of Act 145 — the telecommunications reform enacted last year — so local assessors and the department can complete a transition plan for valuing telecommunications property. “We just got the bids back, and we realized we need more time,” Bolio said, explaining that local valuation and appeals work require additional preparation before the assets are placed on grand lists and taxed under the updated definitions.

Bolio told senators that the department expects to let the affected companies continue to pay the old telephone personal property tax and related in‑lieu taxes for one additional year while the state contracts with valuation experts and coordinates with local assessors. He said the provision is in the Budget Adjustment…