Revenue Committee advances bill to standardize order for applying property tax exemptions

The Revenue Committee advanced House Bill 279 on a roll-call vote after hearing testimony from the Department of Revenue and a county assessor that the bill provides needed uniformity in applying overlapping property tax exemptions.

Brenda Henson, director of the Department of Revenue, told the committee the bill clarifies how assessors should apply exemptions when more than one applies to the same property. She said exemptions passed in 2024 use “assessed value” or taxable value as the starting point and, without guidance, assessors could unintentionally apply multiple percentage-based exemptions to the same assessed value.

The bill directs that, when multiple exemptions apply, percentage-based exemptions be applied in order from smallest percentage to largest and that non-percentage exemptions (for example, the veterans' $6,000 exemption discussed during testimony) be applied after percentage-based exemptions. Henson said that approach prevents “exempting the same assessed value multiple times” and ensures consistent results across all 23 counties.

Commerce County Assessor Dixie Huxtable testified she “totally support[s] this bill,” telling the committee the measure would give counties a consistent method for administering multiple exemptions and make implementation uniform for taxpayers.

Senators asked for an illustrative worksheet or example to give to floor members. Henson and committee members discussed that the bill was drafted with the Legislative Service Office to function as a catchall, avoiding the need to repeat the same math rules in each future tax-relief measure.

The committee took a roll-call vote on House Bill 279; the clerk recorded five affirmative votes and the chairman announced that HB279 passed the committee.

The bill will move to the Senate floor for further consideration.