This morning, the series of bills that phase out hundreds of millions of dollars currently going to local communities through the personal property tax were introduced. The bills are very similar to what the League has reported and the Governor’s office has spoken about in the media. Industrial personal property taxes will be phased out beginning in 2016 for all property purchased after 2012. And old personal property will be phased out each over the next several years.
Also, all commercial and industrial businesses with $40,000 in personal property taxable value is exempt beginning December 31, 2012. One new piece of detail is that any locally exempted personal property tax was going to come back on the books between 2012-2016 is just now exempt.
There is a bill that provides “intent” language on how this legislature wants future legislators to reimburse local communties beginning in 2016, SB 1072. In that bill, local have significant reporting requirements to qualify for their reimbursement and it appears that they do not want to reimburse any local community which gets less than 2% of it’s budget from personal property tax at all. However, that bill is essentially meaningless because those decisions on how much money locals will be reimbursed, and how, can’t be decided until 2016. The bills are included in this post (see links below). The League is advocating, as
part of the Replace Don’t Erase Coalition, guaranteed replacement revenues via a Constitutional Amendment.
The League, as part of the Replace Don’t Erase Coalition, is having a press conference on this issue 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 18, 2012. Go here for details.
Summer Minnick is Director of State Affairs for the League. She can be reached at (517) 908-0301 or [email protected].