Municipal leaders urge rejection of House Bill 739, saying it would shift $28.6M in property tax 'swept' funds to state control

The Senate Finance Committee heard extensive public testimony on House Bill 739, a proposal that would require communities with so-called "excess swept" education tax dollars to remit that excess to the Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) for deposit in the state education trust fund. Sponsors and witnesses told the committee the change would restore language repealed in 2011 and is estimated to increase deposits to the trust fund by about $28.6 million.

The bill would take the portion of a community's education-related property tax revenue that exceeds a statutory adequacy threshold and remit it to the state. A committee presenter said the bill does not change the state's total education revenue but would add nearly $28.6 million to the education trust fund; the presenter said the bill's effective date in statute is July 1, 2025,…