Finance committee weighs using part of property-tax buy-down to expand renter credit

At a Finance committee meeting, members explored using a portion of a proposed $104 million one-time property-tax buy-down to expand the state's renter tax credit, asking staff and the Joint Fiscal Office to model how much new funding would buy in benefits for renters.

Jake Goldman of the Tax Department summarized the program's evolution: "there was a renter rebate, which kinda mirrored the circuit breaker part of property tax credits," and reforms in 2021 removed the landlord certification requirement and tied the credit to HUD fair-market rent and family size. Goldman said those changes reduced paperwork for renters but increased administrative work for the tax department and the program's cost pressures.

"It greatly decreased the amount of work that renters need to do and landlords too, but it increased the work that the tax department needs to do," Goldman said, adding that staff will…