6:11:37 PM CS FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 334(FIN) "An Act relating to an exemption from and deferral of municipal property taxes for certain types of deteriorated property." AT EASE 6:11:51 PM / 6:12:12 PM AT EASE 6:13:17 PM / 6:13:38 PM This was the first hearing for this bill in the Senate Finance Committee. Co-Chair Green moved for adoption of SCS CS HB 334, 24-LS1353\Y, as a working document and objected to receive an explanation of the bill and proposed changes. 6:13:56 PM Senator Bunde thanked the Committee for including in the proposed legislation a provision that would allow a local government to defer the property tax obligations of a person experiencing "catastrophic hard times" until they were able to make payment or sell the property. He had developed the provision in a different bill, and appreciated its inclusion in this legislation. 6:15:34 PM REPRESENTATIVE JAY RAMRAS, sponsor of the bill, testified that the bill would assist developers and local governments in refurbishing deteriorated properties by revising and clarifying existing tax deferral language. It would allow a municipal government to enter in to an agreement with a developer to defer property taxes until a specified time, thus binding future assemblies or councils to the terms of the agreement. Representative Ramras excused himself for a prior commitment. 6:18:24 PM Co-Chair Wilken noted for the record that he'd had concerns about the bill's affect on the "chain of ownership". He had discussed the issue with the bill's sponsor, and his concerns had been alleviated. 6:18:46 PM Co-Chair Green remarked that the provisions of the bill are "permissive language", which allow the tax deferral but do not require it. 6:19:01 PM Senator Olson asked the sponsor's opinion of the changes made by Senator Bunde's amendment. 6:19:11 PM JIM POUND, Staff to Representative Ramras, replied that the amendment had no affect on the existing language of the bill; it simply added additional permissive language. The sponsor favored the amendment. Co-Chair Green removed her objection to the adoption of the committee substitute. Without further objection, SCS CS HB 334, Version "Y", was ADOPTED as a working document. 6:19:57 PM Amendment #1: This amendment inserts a new bill section to read as follows. Section 1. AS 27.45.030(b) is amended to read: (b) In (a) of this section, "property used exclusively for religious purposes" includes the following property owned by a religious organization: (1) the residence of an educator in a private religious or parochial school or a bishop, pastor, priest, rabbi, minister, or religious order of a recognized religious organization; for purposes of this paragraph, "minister" means an individual who is  (A) ordained, commissioned, or licensed as a minister  (B) employed by the religious organization to carry out a ministry of that religious organization; (2) a structure, its furniture, and its fixtures used solely for public worship, charitable purposes, religious administrative offices, religious education, or a nonprofit hospital; (3) lots required by local ordinance for parking near a structure defined in (2) of this subsection. New Text Underlined Co-Chair Green offered a motion to adopt the amendment and objected to provide an explanation. Co-Chair Green read the language of the changes into the record and stated this would further clarify statute. Co-Chair Green removed her objection. 6:20:37 PM Co-Chair Wilken asked the impact of this provision to the Fairbanks local governments. 6:20:44 PM Mr. Pound responded that it would have no effect in Fairbanks; the provision is primarily intended to address issues with the Municipality of Anchorage. 6:20:59 PM Co-Chair Wilken commented that the language was particularly broad. 6:22:52 PM Co-Chair Green remarked the changes were intended to clarify the definition of "minister". 6:23:08 PM Co-Chair Wilken exampled a teacher who taught in a religious school, but was not a "minister". He asked if that teacher would receive tax exemption. Co-Chair Green clarified that only the property of the religious organization was eligible. Co-Chair Wilken then asked if a house owned by the religious organization but occupied by the teacher would qualify. Co-Chair Green affirmed. 6:24:15 PM There was no further objection to the adoption of the amendment and it was ADOPTED. 6:24:49 PM Co-Chair Wilken offered a motion to report SCS CS HB 334, 24- LS1353\Y, from Committee with individual recommendations and accompanying fiscal notes. Without objection, SCS CS HB 334 (FIN) was MOVED from Committee with zero fiscal note #1 from the Office of the Governor, Office of Management and Budget, for all State agencies, and zero fiscal note #2 from the Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development.