From Deseret News archives:
Vote of people removed from property tax bill, passes Senate
After finding that he had no support for part of SB29, Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, has pulled a provision from his bill amending the state's truth-in-taxation law that would require a vote of the people if a taxing entity planned to raise property taxes above the rate of inflation.
"I didn't have one vote, other than me, in the Senate," Niederhauser said.
It was a different story Tuesday, when the Senate unanimously passed SB29 to the House.
There had been a concern among fellow senators that such votes would consistently become referendum votes, which could hamstring local elected officials, Niederhauser said.
Niederhauser told the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee recently that the other parts of the bill need to be passed.
The committee agreed and passed the bill unanimously.
In its new form, SB29 exempts entities collecting less than $20,000 in tax revenue in a year from truth-in-taxation requirements. Also, any entity that wants to bring more than $20,000 a year in tax revenue would have to meet truth-in-taxation requirements.
The bill also relieves pressure on school districts to increase tax rates every two years to get matching funds from the state.
"I think we ought to relieve that pressure," Niederhauser told the committee. "Let them go ahead and have that matching for five years."
Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, has called it a "well-crafted bill."
Niederhauser said he's not heartbroken about removing the people's vote from the bill.
He is hoping to get support for SB258, which would create a property tax task force during the Legislature's interim.
The Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee is slated to discuss SB258 today.
That will allow legislators to further study property taxes and come up with solid, popular legislation.
If passed, SB258 would provide $73,000 to fund the task force.
"We're going to need a pretty good appropriation," Niederhauser said, "to figure out what the ramifications are so we can come up with the right idea in the end."
He said he has support for the property tax task force from leadership in both houses.
E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com
