Property Tax Working Group Gets Updates from Other Groups

The group members reviewed a list of current property tax exemptions as they began work toward developing draft recommendations.
(Published Aug 22, 2012)

At the Aug. 15 meeting of the legislatively created Property Tax Working Group, the main agenda item was to hear updates from other property tax study groups, including the Local Government Aid (LGA) Study Group, the Department of Natural Resources Commissioner’s Advisory Group on Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT), and the group examining alternative methods of valuing agricultural and rural vacant land.

Rep. Linda Runbeck and Pat Dalton of House Research gave an update on the LGA Study Group. The group has met several times to discuss the program’s history, goals, data limitations, and distribution mechanisms. The focus of the next meeting will be to develop a priority list of policy goals and to give direction to House Research staff on exploring a formula. A December meeting will be spent on drafting the group’s recommendations on a program framework and distribution formula.

Susan Damon from the Department of Natural Resources provided an update on the PILT advisory group. The group’s charge was to prepare a report that includes an analysis of the current payment and distribution system as well as recommended changes. The group has met six times and also formed a technical working group. Preliminary findings have been developed and the group is currently considering several recommendations. The final report is due by Dec. 1.

Andrea Fish with the Department of Revenue gave an overview of the recent report, Alternative Methods of Valuing Agricultural and Rural Vacant Land. After studying other valuation methods, the study team recommended continuing to value these lands with market-derived values as it seems to most accurately reflect the agricultural markets throughout the state.

The Property Tax Working Group also reviewed a list of current property tax exemptions as they began to work toward developing draft recommendations. The group will meet next on Sept. 19.

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