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Committee hears proposal to let local governments offer phased property tax relief for seniors, then defers the measure
Summary
Representative Farnham presented HB514, a constitutional amendment that would permit, but not require, local governments to offer phased ad valorem exemptions to homeowners age 65+ who have frozen their assessed value; committee adopted a technical comma amendment and the sponsor voluntarily deferred the bill for further discussion with stakeholders.
House Bill 5 14, presented March 12 by Representative Farnham, would put a constitutional amendment on the ballot allowing local taxing authorities to offer optional, phased ad valorem exemptions to qualifying homeowners age 65 and older who have frozen their assessments.
Farnham described a phased approach in which eligible seniors could receive additional homestead exemptions that step up at each reassessment cycle; for example, increases in exemption amounts would be applied every 4 years and the program could culminate in full property‑tax exemption for qualifying owners under a stated value cap and local adoption. The bill would be optional for local governments and would require a separate tax election for implementation.
A technical amendment inserting a comma in the draft ballot language was adopted without objection. Farnham said he would seek additional technical changes and discussions with local stakeholders and moved to voluntarily defer the bill; the committee accepted the deferment.
A companion bill (HB961) received a similar technical amendment and was voluntarily deferred as well.
