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Senator Miller’s larger local-option homestead proposal voluntarily deferred amid fiscal uncertainty
Summary
Senate Bill 88, introduced by Senator Miller to let local authorities raise homestead exemptions up to $30,000 (spoken as roughly $300,000 market value), was voluntarily deferred after debate and Legislative Fiscal Office caution that impacts on the MFP are uncertain.
Senate Bill 88, introduced by Senator Bill Miller, would amend the constitution to give local authorities the option to increase the homestead exemption up to $30,000 of assessed value (which the sponsor equated in committee remarks to about $300,000 of market value). The Senate Committee on Revenue and Fiscal Affairs heard the bill April 7, adopted an amendment set expanding which local taxing authorities must approve, and then voluntarily deferred the measure.
Senator Miller said the higher threshold seeks to update an exemption that has not kept pace with home-price inflation and proposed that local taxing authorities who choose the option would accept reduced ad valorem collections rather than shifting the burden through reappraisal adjustments. "Senate Bill 88 would be a constitutional amendment to give a local option to the locals to increase the homestead exemption up to 30,000 of assessed value, dollars 300,000 of market value," Miller said during his presentation.
Staff passed amendment set 17-01 to include school boards and sheriffs among the local authorities that must approve any increase; members adopted the amendments without objection. Witnesses reiterated concerns raised in the earlier homestead bill hearing: local capacity to absorb reduced collections, potential impacts on bonded debt, and an unclear effect on the state Minimum Foundation Program for education funding. Garrett Ordner of the Legislative Fiscal Office told the committee the effects on the MFP would be similar to those described for the prior bill and are largely indeterminable at this time.
Because of overlap with a pending inventory-tax ballot measure and unresolved fiscal questions, Senator Miller asked the committee to voluntarily defer the bill; the chair moved to defer and the motion was adopted without objection.
