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Tri‑Creek staff warn Senate Enrolled Act 1 could cut district property‑tax revenue by about $1.86 million in 2026
Summary
Business officer Dana told the Tri‑Creek board the state’s Senate Enrolled Act 1 is estimated by the DLGF to reduce district property‑tax revenue by roughly $1.86 million in 2026; she said the change could also hit debt service and warned of credit‑rating and cash‑flow implications.
Dana (Speaker 11), Tri‑Creek’s business officer, told the board that the recently enacted Senate Enrolled Act 1 — a property‑tax relief measure — will likely reduce assessed value calculations and change homestead deductions and business personal property exemptions in ways that reduce district revenue. She cited a DLGF estimate showing a possible $1,860,000 loss to property‑tax revenue in 2026 and said that result would represent a 189% increase over last year’s circuit‑breaker loss.
Dana outlined three major mechanisms in the bill: moving from a flat homestead deduction to a percent‑based approach (reducing taxable assessed value), a $300 credit or a 10% off the top of the tax bill for homeowners, and raising the business personal property exemption from $60,000 to $2,000,000. She said policy‑analytic modeling produced slightly different parcel‑by‑parcel estimates (roughly $1.9–2.1 million loss) and noted the DLGF’s figure is a high‑level estimate.
Of particular concern to the district, Dana said, is that the DLGF estimate currently does not protect debt‑service funds from the circuit breaker impact; she warned that if debt service loses revenue districts without adequate cash balances may struggle to meet scheduled debt payments and that credit ratings could be affected without offsetting cash balances.
Dana and legal counsel (Speaker 2) also briefed the board on a bond‑refunding plan for the Series 2016 bonds that would refinance at a lower interest rate; the board later authorized a refunding resolution (Resolution 2025‑07) at the meeting. Legal counsel explained the district can only refinance within a 90‑day window prior to the older bonds’ call date, and a sale is expected in September with funding in October if market conditions are favorable.
Board members asked for continued modeling and cross‑district comparisons and were told staff would run additional scenarios and provide follow‑up materials.
