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Chief appraiser warns House Bill 9 cut taxable value; commissioners to review budget calendar
Summary
Mills County’s chief appraiser told the court that House Bill 9’s expansion of the personal property exemption significantly reduced taxable value—he cited a roughly $281 million impact—and staff will continue budget workshops to set tax rates and the fiscal calendar.
Michael Hall, the county’s chief appraiser, told the commissioners the county had seen a notable change in taxable value attributed to recent state legislation. He explained that House Bill 9 raised the personal property exemption for businesses and that, as reported in the meeting, the change reduced certain taxable values by roughly $281 million.
Hall said total market value was slightly down from the previous year while preliminary taxable value was "about five and some change million dollars" higher than last year’s certification in the meeting’s readout. He emphasized classification differences—large utility assets and wind‑turbine real property are treated as real property and therefore do not receive the personal‑property exemption; fixtures and equipment are affected differently. "House Bill 9 aimed to raise a personal property tax exemption for businesses from 2,500 to a $125,000," a commissioner read during discussion of the law.
The judge noted that the county will continue budget workshops and that Charles Miles will be present at an upcoming meeting to begin more detailed work on tax rates and calendar items. Commissioners and staff discussed potential downstream effects on school districts and special taxing entities, and the chief appraiser confirmed that staff would bring additional detail to the next workshops.
