Chair Tim Taylor proposes rollback to blind pension levy; committee flags drafting and fiscal-note issues

Chair Tim Taylor presented House Bill 3,354 to the Special Committee on Property Tax Reform, proposing a reduction in the statutory levy that funds the state’s blind pension program. Taylor said the fund spends about $31,000,000 annually and currently holds roughly $52,000,000 in reserves; drafters and the Department of Social Services recommended a lower statutory rate expressed in the hearing as 0.0275.

"The rollback is going to take place and I told him I didn't personally didn't want them to make a distribution to public schools until we have time to watch this and make sure that this number is good," Chair Taylor said, describing a desire to preserve a reserve cushion while trimming the levy.

Why it matters: several members asked whether constitutional language or Hancock-like mechanics would require levy adjustments as assessed values change, and whether leftover fund balances could move to the public-school fund. Representative Boyco asked directly whether excess monies could be transferred to the public-school fund; Taylor said the constitution contemplates transfers of leftover funds but argued that direct support to blind pension recipients merited priority because the likely transfer would be small relative to total K–12 funding.

Members also flagged inconsistent numeric notation in the fiscal analysis. Representative Steinhoff noted the fiscal note showed 0.00275 in one place and 0.0275 in another and asked drafters to reconcile units; Chair Taylor said he would offer an amendment to make the decimal explicit. "We need to find it," Steinhoff said of the discrepancy, and the sponsor said he had asked drafters and legal counsel to confirm the intended figure and would submit an amendment to clarify the text.

The committee solicited public testimony in favor and opposition; none was offered. The hearing closed with no committee action taken the same day.