Latest news with #SenateTaxationCommittee
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Under-the-radar bill floats toward the top of property tax discussion
Photo illustration by Getty Images. House Bill 528 has flown under the radar, Rep. Ed Byrne said on Thursday. The Bigfork legislator's bill isn't that way anymore and has become a property tax option for the Montana Legislature. 'It was beautiful, because nobody in the House knew it was coming, except the coalitions we built around it,' Byrne said in an interview with the Daily Montanan. 'So the support I had throughout the whole thing, building at this for two months to get the votes.' HB 528 drops agricultural land to a property tax rate of 1.7% from 2.61%, while residential properties less than $1.5 million would be taxed at 0.76%, currently at 1.35%. Residential property at more than $1.5 million would be taxed at 1.35% and commercial property in Class 4 would be taxed at 1.35%. Currently, residential property more than $1.5 million and commercial property in Class 4 are taxed at 1.89%. Two major property tax bills — House Bill 231 and House Bill 154 — were tabled in the Senate Taxation Committee on Wednesday as debate continues on a fix for homeowners across the state. HB 528 has bipartisan support, and Byrne, a Republican, worked with Sen. Mary Ann Dunwell, D-Helena, on the legislation. It passed 12-11 out of the appropriations committee on Tuesday. It previously passed the House on a 88-9 vote on March 21. Byrne's bill adjusts property tax rates on agricultural, residential and 'Main Street' commercial properties, Dunwell said. It's similar to SB 189, which was brought by Dunwell and tabled in the Senate Taxation Committee on April 1. The hope was that either Byrne's or Dunwell's bill would gain traction in the Legislature. 'And at the end, if it's not the vehicle, which it very well may not be, at least the meat of it would be in there, because our bills were simple, no complications,' Dunwell said. Dunwell also said their bills could be implemented immediately, giving Montanans access to property tax relief sooner. Byrne stressed the bipartisan nature of the legislation, noting how he watched then-speaker Sen. Matt Reiger, a Republican, work with Democrats, Rep. Mary Caferro and then minority leader Kim Abbott, last session, as they worked on problems they had with the Governor's budget. 'When you can work bipartisan on the budget issues, you still don't agree on the social, moral issues, you've got to put all that aside,' Byrne said. 'It's not personal, and you come in to fix what's right on fiscal and taxes. And our biggest mandate here was taxes.' HB 231, brought by Rep. Llew Jones, R-Conrad, would have shifted some of the tax burden onto those who are not residents of the state, but own property in Montana. Jones called HB 528 the 'preferred bill for implementing tax cuts' in an email to lobbyists on March 28. The bill also ran into trouble in Billings and Sunburst. During the bill's Senate hearing, Billings officials said HB 231 would shrink the tax base by about 12%. Sunburst and Billings have a unique charter, which has specific stipulations around how many mills they can levy without voter approval. Leaders there say they would have to go back to voters in their towns to raise taxes for critical services, like police and fire. HB 231 was supported by Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte, and the legislation came to be known as the 'Homestead bill.' Gianforte said he was disappointed in the tabling of the legislation, 'the fairest approach,' during a Thursday press conference. 'It's not over till it's over, but we collectively, including myself and the legislature, we can't leave here without implementing permanent property tax relief for the people of Montana,' Gianforte said. HB 154, brought by Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, was a tax credit seeking to give direct help to renters and middle class property tax payers. HB 231 and HB 154 were both tabled. 'So, of course, it's disappointing, but tabling a bill is not permanent,' Karlen said. 'We take bills off the table all the time. We can blast bills in the Senate. So by no means I view it as the end of the line.' Republicans have also brought a steady flow of rebate bills. Those aren't the whole answer, Karlen said. 'My take on a rebate is that it's like putting a band aid on a very deep wound that needs surgery,' Karlen said. 'And so I think that any place for rebates should be to augment structural tax reform.' Senate Bill 90, brought by Sen. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, sought to use lodging and rental car tax revenues to provide relief, but was tabled in the House Taxation Committee on Thursday morning. Other property tax bills have also been discussed. Sen. Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, has SB 117, which puts limits on what government property tax increases local municipalities can do and changes the inflation limitation for calculating property tax levies. Both bills were cited by Senate President Matt Reiger as part of the solution for property tax relief. However, Reiger also said two bills from Sen. Greg Hertz, R-Polson — SB 204 and SB 205 — would have completed the needed fix. SB 204 failed on a third reading in the Senate and SB 205 was indefinitely postponed. 'It was always going to be difficult, because anything that we do in Montana is just shifting taxes from one taxpayer to another,' Hertz said to the Daily Montanan. 'And that's a very difficult thing for anybody to raise somebody else's taxes.'
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is Gov. Cox's promise to kill the Social Security tax dead in the water?
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox told lawmakers a week before the 2025 legislative session that he had given them 'a gift' by pushing for the end of state taxes on Social Security. But in return for Cox making this proposal a 'cornerstone' of his budget, the Legislature appears ready to present Cox with a pebble. On Monday, the Senate Taxation Committee advanced a bill that would eliminate the state tax on Social Security but only under the condition that bill sponsor Sen. Wayne Harper, R-Taylorsville, narrowed his bill substantially to fit within the 'socks and underwear' budget this year. Instead, lawmakers are looking at another across the board income tax cut, and increasing the tax credit only slightly for Social Security recipients. In its current form, Harper's SB71 would build on Social Security tax credit expansions from 2021, 2022 and 2023 by completely removing the caps on income, which currently stand at $75,000 for households filing jointly and $45,000 for individuals. During the presentation of his fiscal year 2026 budget recommendations, Cox said it was an 'embarrassment' that Utah is one of only eight states that plans to continue taxing a portion of Social Security payments in the upcoming year. 'This is, I would say, easily the most popular proposal that I've made in the past four years,' Cox told a room full of legislators in January, adding jokingly, 'I lament what will happen to you if you don't do it.' While the policy change would give roughly 150,000 senior Utahns an average annual tax break of $950, doing so would cost the state an estimated $144 million in revenue for the upcoming fiscal year — money lawmakers are unwilling to part with. In Monday's hearing, Harper acknowledged there wasn't enough in the budget to fully fund the governor's proposal. But he said it was important to chip away at the Social Security tax to make sure individuals are not being taxed twice on money that was already taken out of their paycheck. Senate Taxation Chair Dan McCay, R-Riverton, spoke forcefully against Harper's bill, arguing that it would exacerbate the problem of consolidating wealth among those who are over the age of 65 in the country. 'I believe that this bill is morally wrong and we are hurting our children,' McCay said in explaining his 'no' vote. Budget committee members met in December to set aside new revenues to ensure they'd have enough for a fourth consecutive year of tax cuts. But the $231 million they set aside was placed under additional scrutiny when updated projections found that new revenues would be $100 million less than expected. Despite opposition from Democrats who have lamented the social services that will go unfunded, as in past years, legislative leadership have chosen to prioritize a blanket cut to income taxes. On Thursday, the House passed HB106, which would decrease the corporate and income tax rates for all Utahns from 4.55% to 4.5%, saving the typical Utah family around $45 a year. The bill was amended on the House floor to incorporate separate bills that would create a large tax credit for businesses that build child care facilities and that would expand the child tax credit to include children who are 5 years old and under the age of 1. The total cost of the new law, if it passes the Senate and signed by the governor, will be nearly $126 million in FY2026, leaving no room for Cox's elimination of the Social Security tax, according to legislative leadership. On Monday, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, and Majority Whip Chris Wilson, R-Logan, said Harper's bill will likely be amended to increase the Social Security tax credit by $5,000-20,000, depending on how budget conversations go during the final week of the 2025 legislative session. Bill sponsor of the income tax cut, Rep. Kay Christofferson, R-Lehi, told the Deseret News that he had originally planned to sponsor the bill to end the tax on Social Security benefits. He predicted that the Legislature would be able to find enough funding to remove the Social Security tax for all those making below $90,000-100,000. But he said lawmakers will continue to prioritize income tax cuts for all Utahns. 'We can cut programs, we can do things that make government more efficient and give people that money to be able to use how they see fit,' Christofferson said.
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Voter-approved flat tax resolution fails
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — There are many bills about property tax relief during this South Dakota legislative session but this resolution died. Republican Sen. John Carley's Senate Joint Resolution 506 to allow voters to decide on a constitutional amendment to create a flat tax rate for property taxes died in a 41st day motion in the Senate Taxation Committee on Monday. Property owners need relief before SJR506 would take effect, said committee member Republican Sen. Casey Crabtree. Crabtree moved to send the resolution to the 41st day. A new task force on prisons clears a Senate committee SJR506 would create a voter-approved flat tax for all classes of property tax. It would return taxes to the 2020 level and then, install a 1% increase for South Dakota residents to 2% increase for out-of-staters in following years, Carley said in explanation. Committee member Republican Sen. Amber Hulse said a constitutional amended flat tax may meet federal fair tax laws under the federal constitution. 'I don't know if it will meet that constitutional muster,' Hulse said. Carley said it would save property owners an estimated $250 million to $400 million a year. That lost tax revenue could be made up by cuts in government, increase in the sales tax rate and, because of property tax stability, people would spend more money to create more sales tax revenue, Carley said. 'I think it's easy to come up with ideas politically,' Michael Houdyshell, the Secretary of the Department of Revenue, but it's much harder to enact any needed increases in state sales taxes or use unclaimed property money as Carley suggested. Carley's resolution does not provide a set way to make up lost revenue, Houdyshell said. Without that, there would need to be significant cuts to local governments, he said. Property taxes are a major source of revenue for school districts and county and township governments. Crabtree said the state has had years of conservative lawmakers and he doubts there is room to cut education, roadways or safety, as examples. The testimony of SJR506 supporters including an 82-year-old woman who said she took a job to pay her property taxes, moved committee member Republican Sen. Greg Blanc to offer the substitute motion for a do pass. Although she knew which direction SJR506 was going, 'I like that flat tax,' committee member Republican Sen. Tamara Grove said. The do pass failed before the 41st day vote was approved. Some lawmakers and opponents also said SJR506 would wrongly create policy in the constitution. Supporters cited the need for property tax reform and how a flat tax was a fair system and created certainty in tax increases for property owners. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
