Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Constitutional Amendment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee debates constitutional amendment to eliminate residential property tax
Summary
LSO presented a constitutional resolution (26 LSO 100) to set residential property tax at 0% and remove related constitutional language; testimony focused on effects for special districts, bonds, and whether counties must continue assessments for debt repayment.
Lawmakers considered 26 LSO 100, a proposed constitutional amendment that would set the residential property tax percentage at 0% and remove related bridging language that ties other classes to residential assessments. Josh Anderson of the Legislative Service Office explained the draft would add language specifying that "residential real property shall be 0% and no property tax shall be assessed on residential real property."
Department of Revenue and local officials raised technical and policy questions. Ken Gill asked how the proposal would affect improvement and service districts that voted to levy against residential property to pay bonded indebtedness. "Where does that leave them to collect for that indebtedness?" Gill asked, noting many small districts rely on residential assessments to pay bonds.
Representative Riggins asked whether counties would continue to assess residential value if it were constitutionally exempt; Gill said jurisdictions would likely still need assessed values to calculate levies tied to bonded indebtedness, but acknowledged the mechanism would require legislative and administrative work. County commissioners and municipalities asked for detailed modeling of distribution, bond impacts and interactions with local option sales/use taxes.
Lawmakers said the constitutional amendment raises broad structural questions and requires careful study of special districts, bond obligations and the mechanics of assessment and collection before any ballot placement.
