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Senate finance panel advances amended homestead-exemption bill raising exemption to $150,000, keeping age at 65
Summary
The Senate Finance Committee voted to report S.768 favorably after adopting an amendment that restores the eligibility age to 65 and raises the exemption to $150,000 while adding a five‑year state‑residency requirement for new applicants and a county option to increase exemptions without state reimbursement.
The Senate Finance Committee on Monday voted to give S.768 a favorable report after adopting amendments that restored the eligibility age to 65 and increased the homestead exemption to $150,000.
Committee staff summarized the measure as a revision to the current homestead exemption for older, blind and disabled homeowners. “What the bill before you does is this increases the current homestead exemption given to people 65 over blind and disabled from $50,000 to $100,000,” Mr. Gibson told the committee in his initial summary; staff later explained the amendment raised the figure further to $150,000 and restored the age threshold to 65.
Why it matters: supporters said the bill seeks to help homeowners on fixed incomes who face rising property valuations and tax bills. Opponents warned that lowering the eligibility age to 60 would expand benefits to people who are still working. One senator who offered a perfecting amendment argued that keeping the age at 65 and increasing the exemption to $150,000 would better target those most in need.
Details of the change: staff described the adopted amendment as keeping the five‑year state‑residency requirement for new applicants, grandfathering current recipients, and permitting county governing bodies by ordinance to increase the exemption further (counties that add to the exemption would not be reimbursed by the state). Mr. Gibson said the committee’s earlier fiscal estimate for the bill was roughly $245,000,000; after the amendment, staff estimated the cost rose “about $14,000,000.”
Committee action: after debate and votes on amendments, the committee recorded the amendment passage and then approved S.768 as amended; the transcript records two members voting in opposition when the final favorable report was recorded.
What’s next: the bill was reported favorably out of the Senate Finance Committee and will move to the full Senate for further consideration and potential additional amendments.
Attributions: Mr. Gibson is committee staff who summarized the bill and the amendment on the record. Multiple senators spoke in debate, including proponents and opponents of age reduction and of changing the exemption amount.
