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Kansas House advances Astra Fund to give $60 million annual property-tax relief, repeal revenue-neutral law
Summary
Lawmakers advanced House Bill 23-96 to create a $60 million Astra Fund to incentive local governments to limit property-tax increases, replace the revenue-neutral process and establish a protest petition; bill passed the House after extended debate.
House representatives passed House Bill 23-96 on a voice and roll-call vote after extended floor debate, moving a new approach to property-tax relief that pairs a state transfer with limits and a citizen protest mechanism.
Representative Adam Smith, the bill—s carrier and a member of the House Taxation Committee, said the measure creates the Astra Fund, a $60,000,000 demand-transfer pool distributed to qualifying cities and counties. The fund would increase by 2% annually and, Smith said, would ‘‘incentivize local governments to keep property-tax increases at a minimum.’'
Under the bill, local governments must adopt and certify budgets and meet statutory minimums to qualify. Smith said the Astra Fund—s first-year appropriation would be $60 million and that if fully utilized it could leverage an additional $70 million to $75 million of local property-tax relief, producing roughly $130 million…
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