Taxation panel advances bill allowing protest petitions to cap property-tax-driven revenue increases, creates ASTRA Fund

The House Committee on Taxation on March 5 advanced House Bill 2396, a measure that would let residents use a protest petition to limit an increase in property-tax revenue for local taxing jurisdictions, create the ASTRA Fund to redistribute some State General Fund transfers to qualifying cities and counties, and eliminate existing revenue-neutral rate requirements and the taxpayer-notification cost fund.

The bill matters because it alters how local governments can rely on property-tax revenue and adds a new state-administered mechanism for payments to jurisdictions that stay within specified limits. Reviser (staff) told the committee the bill “would authorize the use of a protest petition to limit funding of a taxing jurisdiction by property tax revenues above a certain amount” and described the ASTRA Fund and the elimination of statutory revenue-neutral requirements.

Debate centered on the petition threshold — how many voters must sign or be represented to force a budget halt — and several amendments that changed how the petition operates. Representative Hsu proposed raising the threshold to 20% of votes cast in the referenced election, arguing the measure “just kind of makes a little bit more sense” to avoid allowing a small number of signatures to immediately kill a budget. Representative Francis offered a substitute motion that replaced the bill’s original reference with “10% of the qualified voters of the votes cast for the president of The United States at the last general election.” Reviser confirmed the substitute’s wording would base the calculation on votes cast in the last presidential general election. The committee approved the substitute motion by voice vote, making the 10%-of-last-presidential-election test the operative threshold.

Members also approved several amendments that the committee’s discussion put in place before advancing the bill. The committee voted to exempt voter-approved bonds from the protest-petition calculation so previously approved bond levies would not be subject to petition reversal. A motion to set the bill’s effective date for July 1, 2025 was explained by staff as meaning the exemption would apply only to bond issues approved by voters after that date; preexisting voter-approved bonds would remain excluded from recalculation because they are already built into local budgets.

Lawmakers additionally approved an amendment requiring the director of accounts and reports in the Department of Administration to design and publish a standardized protest-petition form so clerks and treasurers will have a consistent document to accept. Representative Howerton successfully moved an amendment requiring the county treasurer’s office to post petition notices on the county website and on county-controlled social media, “if such website or social media exists,” to improve public notice. Representative Long’s amendment requires the state treasurer to report annually, on or before Jan. 31, a complete list of cities and counties that received transfers from the ASTRA Fund (the amendment was later expanded to include both recipients and nonrecipients at the committee’s request).

Committee members clarified procedural points during discussion: the protest petition, as drafted and amended, would stop or “kill” a proposed budget increase rather than automatically trigger a new election because of local budget timelines. Committee members also noted school-district levies are excluded from this process; school district levies are typically set in statute or by voter approval and are not part of the bill’s calculation. Staff explained the process for computing jurisdiction-specific thresholds: county clerks certify election data to the Property Valuation Division, which forwards it to the state treasurer; the treasurer’s office will notify cities and counties of their numeric thresholds (staff indicated those figures would be provided as soon after certification as practicable, with clerks’ data certified by July 1 and a target date of roughly July 15 for treasurer notifications to support local budget work).

After the amendments were adopted, Representative Hohisel moved the committee to pass HB 2396 as amended; the committee approved the motion by voice vote and sent the bill out of committee.

Votes at a glance - Request to introduce bill identified as “2 5 RS 17 25” (prohibiting certain offenders from entering school property/activities): approved without objection (introduction request) — mover: Representative Estes; outcome: request approved (no roll-call recorded). - Substitute motion for HB 2396: set petition threshold at 10% of votes cast in the last presidential general election — approved by voice vote (mover: Representative Francis; second: Representative Carlin). - Bond-exemption amendment (exclude voter-approved bonds from the petition calculation): approved by voice vote (mover: Chair; second: Representative Hohisel). - Standardized petition form (assign Director of Accounts and Reports to publish form): approved by voice vote (mover: Chair; second: Representative Hohisel). - Treasurer reporting amendment (annual Jan. 31 report of cities/counties receiving ASTRA transfers; later amended to include full list of who did and did not receive transfers): approved by voice vote (mover: Representative Long; second: Representative Hohisel). - Notice posting amendment (county treasurer shall post on county website and county-controlled social media, if such exists): approved by voice vote (mover: Representative Howerton; second: Representative Long). - Final committee motion to pass HB 2396 as amended: approved by voice vote (mover: Representative Hohisel; second: Representative Wolf).

What remains unclear from the committee record - The committee conducted multiple voice votes; the transcript records no roll-call tallies for the votes on HB 2396 or its amendments. - The bill language as amended relies on several administrative steps (certification by county clerks, calculations by Property Valuation Division and the state treasurer) that the committee expects to produce numeric thresholds for local budget use; the precise administrative timing and the exact computation method are described at a high level in committee discussion but will be implemented by agencies.

Next steps HB 2396 was reported out of the Committee on Taxation as amended and will proceed to further legislative consideration according to the chamber’s schedule.