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Minnesota House Tax Committee lays over House File 403 after debate on senior relief, withdrawn renter amendment
Summary
The Minnesota House Tax Committee laid over House File 403, a proposal to limit steep year-to-year property tax increases for homeowners, after debate that included a withdrawn amendment to extend benefits to renters and questions about income eligibility and existing programs.
The Minnesota House Tax Committee on an unspecified date laid over House File 403, a bill that would limit annual property tax increases for homeowners, after members discussed an amendment to extend the benefit to renters and raised questions about program eligibility and budget impacts.
The bill’s author, Representative Sam Myers, told the committee the measure would require homeowners to apply to their county and would automatically cap year-to-year tax increases by providing a credit whenever a homeowner’s property tax increase would exceed 8% compared with the prior year. “After that, any time their tax increase would be more than 8% from one year to the next, the credit would be automatically kicked in and reduce their taxes to no more than 8% of the prior year,” Myers said.
A staff member proposed an amendment, H0402DE1, to extend the homeowner benefit in the bill to renters, noting that the property tax refund formula assumes roughly 17% of rent goes toward landlords’ property taxes. The staff member then withdrew that amendment, saying the change required more consideration of renters and low-income seniors in rental housing.
Representative Urshela Lee asked whether the bill included an income limit; Myers said it did not. “No there is not,” he said, adding he designed the proposal to start with a broad population and to try a scalable approach. Lee also urged better outreach to an existing senior deferral program, saying it is underused in her district.
Committee members noted a fiscal note accompanies the bill but did not elaborate on its amount during the discussion. There was no recorded roll-call vote; Chair Gomez moved to lay the bill over for possible inclusion in the omnibus tax bill.
The discussion centered on how to target assistance to seniors on fixed incomes, whether benefits should include renters, and how to account for budget impacts. The bill was laid over for further consideration; no formal adoption or final vote occurred at the meeting.
