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HB 140, HB 123, and HB 458 – Senate Ways & Means Committee

By Katie Johnson posted 01-14-2022 10:12 AM

  

House Bill (HB) 140, HB 123, and HB 458 are currently in the Senate Ways and Means Committee, awaiting scheduled hearings. All three bills impact a school district’s ability to raise its local share. Please continue your efforts to communicate the detrimental impact of these bills to your communities and legislators.

In anticipation of additional hearings on these bills, we have provided form templates to assist in preparing opposition testimony. Templates for HB 140 and HB 123 are linked below, with the template for HB 458 to be posted to the Advocacy Hub in the coming week. 

HB 140 - Modification of Ballot Language and Election Notices

Among other changes, HB 140 revises millage on the ballot to be expressed in terms of $100,000 of appraised value rather than the $100 of tax value. See a redline of the proposed changes to the ballot language here.  

This will be the third time the Committee is considering HB 140. See OASBO's prior joint testimony opposing the bill here.  Form template for opposition testimony template found here. 

HB 140 - Bill text, LSC Analysis and Fiscal Notes.

HB 123 - Community Reinvestment Areas

HB 123 would change the requirements for the state’s community reinvestment area (CRA) property tax abatement program, extending authority to designate CRAs to township, and eliminating the need for the Department of Development to provide approval. Among other changes, it increases the threshold requiring board approval from 50% to 75% for a CRA property tax exemption for a commercial or industrial project. It also increases the threshold from $1,000,000 to $3,000,000 (indexed to inflation) to trigger the requirement that municipalities share municipal income tax revenue generated by new employees at a large CRA commercial or industrial project with the school district encompassing that project. 

As stated in our testimony, we oppose these changes because schools should be included in the negotiation of property tax incentives. Form opposition testimony template found here.

HB 123 - Bill text, LSC Analysis and Fiscal Notes. 

HB 458 – Elimination of the August Election

HB 458 eliminates the option for a political subdivision or taxing authority to hold a special election in August, except under limited circumstances. Find the detailed bill analysis here.

Review our testimony from December 7, 2021, here.

In addition to your Senator, please share your district’s concerns and personal story with members of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. It is crucial that committee members have an understanding of the negative impacts of these pieces of legislation as they prepare to hear more testimony and consider whether or not they should pass these bills out of committee and to the Senate floor for a vote.

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