Committee reviews SB 402 on homestead refunds and Safe Senior changes; asks for updated fiscal analysis
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Summary
Senate Bill 402 would align household-income definitions (Kansas adjusted gross income) across certain homestead programs, create a single claim form, add an eligibility exception for those forced to live away for health reasons, set a $25,380 Safe Senior income threshold, and preserve eligibility if appraised valuation later exceeds $350,000; the committee adopted a date-certain amendment and requested updated fiscal figures and permutations for Social Security treatment.
The Senate Tax Committee took up Senate Bill 402, which would change how two homestead-related property-tax relief programs define household income, simplify filing and create an eligibility exception for claimants required to live away from their homestead because of health or hardship.
Amelia summarized the principal elements of SB 402: it would define household income for the original homestead refund as total Kansas adjusted gross income (bringing it into consistency with the property-tax freeze definition), provide an exception for claimants required to live away from their homestead for health or hardship, unify the claim form for the original homestead claim and the property-tax-freeze (Safe Senior/SVR) claim, and establish that a claimant shall not lose the original homestead claim or Safe Senior credit if the appraised valuation of the homestead subsequently exceeds $350,000. The bill would also establish a constant household-income threshold for the Safe Senior credit ($25,380 as proposed).
Senators pressed staff on administration and fiscal details. Senator Francisco asked whether the single form would let filers self-select or whether the department would determine which refund yields the greater benefit; the chair and Amelia said the form would be designed so claimants receive the greater benefit and that staff could be asked to clarify operational details. The committee adopted an amendment to set a date-certain cutoff for new Safe Senior qualifiers so that current beneficiaries would not be retroactively affected. The amendment was moved by Senator Tyson and seconded by Senator Schallenberger and carried by voice vote.
Eddie, the committee fiscal analyst, presented revenue projections under the bill as introduced and cautioned his numbers did not include the newly adopted amendment; he reported the bill as introduced had been revenue-increasing in preliminary estimates but that raising valuation limits or other permutations could produce multi-year reductions to State General Fund receipts (he provided example negative amounts for different valuation thresholds and multi-year projections and asked the committee to request an updated fiscal note reflecting the amendment). "My only trepidation is that these numbers did not necessarily incorporate the effects of the amendment that you just adopted," Eddie said.
Several senators sought permutations of Social Security treatment in household-income calculations — noting the three programs currently treat Social Security differently (the property-tax freeze uses Kansas adjusted gross income that excludes Social Security; the traditional homestead counts 50% of Social Security; the Safe Senior program counts 100%). Senators asked staff to provide fiscal scenarios showing the effects of adding back 50% or 100% of Social Security and of different valuation thresholds. Members also asked for information on inflation-indexing the proposed $25,380 Safe Senior threshold.
Next steps: the committee will request updated fiscal notes and handouts to reflect the adopted amendment and the requested Social Security permutations, and the bill will be taken up again when those figures are available.