County attorney: HB 581 changes mean FLOST funds limited to property-tax relief; commission to consider resolution for November ballot

County legal counsel briefed the board on HB 581 during the June 3 regular meeting and provided a handout summarizing legislative tweaks the attorney said were made by the General Assembly (including cross-reference to HB 92 in the last session). Counsel said a key change is that money from FLOST (the local-option sales-tax item discussed in the record) is limited to property-tax relief, and that counties will also see changes to assessment notices which require estimating a rollback rate. The attorney said he has drafted a resolution for the commission to review and that a special election to place a sales-tax question on the ballot can be held Nov. 4.

The attorney's briefing prompted the commission to add consideration of a FLOST resolution to upcoming agenda planning. At the June 23 work session commissioners decided to add a FLOST $.01 sales-tax ballot question to the July 1 regular meeting agenda for formal action. County Attorney Bin Minter provided the legislative summary and proposed resolution; the record indicates the commission asked staff to schedule the item for further review in a work session prior to final action.

Commissioners did not vote on the resolution at the June 3 regular meeting; the meeting minutes show the attorney asked to place the item on a future work session agenda so the draft resolution could be reviewed.