Committee adopts substitute for House Bill 2,780 and advances several property-tax measures

The Special Committee on Property Tax Reform on Friday adopted a revised substitute for House Bill 2,780 and advanced several related property-tax measures.

Chair Tim Taylor moved that the committee adopt a House Committee substitute for HB 2,780 and summarized the substitute as containing four main provisions, including what he described as "the Murphy Hancock fix," "siloing by subclasses," and a commercial-protection provision at 15 percent. He also said the bill included changes to levy floors and noted, "I support this amendment and I would hope that my colleagues on my side of the aisle do as well." Representative Boiko proposed a floor adjustment amendment that would raise a proposed $1.50 minimum to $2.20; he said the number was negotiated "and is fair for districts like most of the ones I represent" and would preserve taxpayers' opportunity for Hancock rollbacks.

After questions about how the change would interact with the state foundation formula and whether the language could be misread as forcing districts to a lower levy, the committee voted to adopt amendment 0.01H (raising the floor to $2.20) and later adopted amendment 0.03H to clarify the levy-language sequencing. The chair then rolled these changes into a new substitute and the committee voted to advance House Committee substitute number 2 for HB 2,780 by a recorded vote of 11 yes and 5 no.

Votes at a glance

- House Committee substitute number 2 for House Bill 2,780: Adopted and advanced on a recorded vote, 11–5. The committee had previously adopted amendments 0.01H (floor change to $2.20) and 0.03H (language restructuring). - House Committee substitute number 2 for House Bill 2,668: Advanced on a recorded vote, 9–6. Members discussed substitute provisions; the substitute includes tax-abatement language, ballot-language clarifications, and other technical adjustments. - House Committee substitute for House Bill 2,944 (including Representative Reedy’s 0.06H amendment addressing senior credits, postmark deadlines and installment options): Adopted and advanced, 15–0. - House Committee substitute number 2 for House Bill 2660A: Advanced, recorded vote 9–6 (motion and substitute adoption recorded during the same session).

Why it matters

The substitute to HB 2,780 packages multiple property-tax changes that affect how school-district levies are set and how levies interact with the Hancock provisions in Article X. Committee debate focused on whether the substitute's text could unintentionally cap or alter future levy authority and how changes would affect districts with low local effort. Representative Steinhoff and others pressed staff and members on whether the language would prevent districts from seeking future increases or would simply set a baseline for a single year.

What happened next

The committee rolled amendments into the substitute, adopted the substitute, and voted the bill out of committee. Other property-tax bills on the agenda similarly moved forward, some after adoption of committee amendments intended to clarify deadlines and administrative processes.

The committee recessed its executive session business and moved to a public hearing on other bills after voting to advance these measures. No further floor actions were taken at this meeting; the bills will proceed to the next steps in committee/floor scheduling.