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Senate committee advances bill to send $50 million a year to school facilities and homeowner relief funds
Summary
Sen. Scott Grove said House Bill 304 would put $50 million a year into both the School Facilities Fund and the Homeowner Property Tax Relief Fund, producing what he estimated as roughly a 10.5% reduction on homeowners' initial assessed tax amounts if adopted.
Sen. Scott Grove (D-14) told the Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee that House Bill 304 would direct $50 million a year into the state School Facilities Fund and $50 million a year into a Homeowner Property Tax Relief Fund.
"If you look on page 3, I believe it is line 15. ... 50,000,000 additional money that will be ongoing money going into the school facilities fund each year," Grove said. He told the committee the homeowner fund portion would be an ongoing $50 million a year as well.
Grove and other supporters said the bill spreads relief in two ways: the school facilities funding reduces property levies that affect all property owners, and the homeowner fund targets owners who claim the homestead exemption. Grove described the estimated effects in percentage terms: roughly 5.12% reduction from the school facilities portion and about 5.4% from the homeowner portion, which he summed as "over 10 and a half percent" off the initial assessed tax amount for homeowners.
Committee members clarified timing and application. Sen. Den Hartog asked whether the homeowner fund transfer would apply to the current fiscal year if the bill carried an emergency effective date. "Yes. I should have made that clear. This will affect your property taxes this year," Grove replied, adding that taxpayers should see the change reflected in November.
Committee chair moved the bill forward. A motion "to send House Bill 304 to the floor with the due pass recommendation" was made and seconded; the motion carried.
What the bill does and what it does not say The bill, as described by Grove, establishes continuing, annual transfers of $50 million to each fund. Grove emphasized that counties and other local taxing entities would continue to receive the full levy amounts and that the state transfers make up the difference to maintain local receipts. The committee discussion focused on structure, timing and the bill's intent to make the transfers ongoing rather than one-time.
Next steps House Bill 304 was advanced by the committee to the Senate floor with a due-pass recommendation. The committee record does not include numeric vote tallies or a roll-call; the transcript records that the motion carried.
Sources and testimony The committee heard the bill from Sen. Scott Grove, who framed the measure as a follow-up to earlier legislation (House Bill 292) that established separate funds for school facilities and homeowner relief. Committee members discussed implementation timing and constituent impacts during the hearing.
