HOUSE RULES STANDING COMMITTEE March 9, 1999 5:05 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Representative John Cowdery, Chairman Representative Brian Porter Representative Joe Green Representative Ethan Berkowitz Representative Reggie Joule MEMBERS ABSENT Representative Gail Phillips Representative Pete Kott COMMITTEE CALENDAR HOUSE BILL NO. 76 "An Act relating to an exemption from and deferral of payment on municipal taxes on deteriorated property; and providing for an effective date." - MOVED CSHB 76(RLS) OUT OF COMMITTEE (* First public hearing) PREVIOUS ACTION BILL: HB 76 SHORT TITLE: MUNICIPAL TAXES ON DETERIORATED PROPERTY SPONSOR(S): REPRESENTATIVES(S) HALCRO, Dyson Jrn-Date Jrn-Page Action 2/03/99 132 (H) READ THE FIRST TIME - REFERRAL(S) 2/03/99 132 (H) COMMUNITY AND REGIONAL AFFAIRS 2/05/99 147 (H) COSPONSOR(S): DYSON 2/25/99 (H) CRA AT 8:00 AM CAPITOL 124 2/25/99 (H) MOVED CSHB 76(CRA) OUT OF COMMITTEE 2/26/99 321 (H) CRA RPT CS(CRA) 4DP 2NR 2/26/99 321 (H) DP: HALCRO, HARRIS, MURKOWSKI, DYSON; 2/26/99 321 (H) NR: JOULE, KOOKESH 2/26/99 321 (H) ZERO FISCAL NOTE (CRA) 2/26/99 321 (H) REFERRED TO RLS 3/09/99 (H) RLS AT 5:00 PM CAPITOL 120 WITNESS REGISTER REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO Alaska State Legislature Capitol Building, Room 418 Juneau, Alaska 99801 Telephone: (907) 465-4939 POSITION STATEMENT: Testified as Sponsor of HB 76. ACTION NARRATIVE TAPE 99-3, SIDE A Number 0001 CHAIRMAN JOHN COWDERY called the House Rules Standing Committee meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. Members present at the call to order were Representatives Cowdery, Porter, Green, Berkowitz and Joule. Representatives Phillips and Kott were absent. HB 76-MUNICIPAL TAXES ON DETERIORATED PROPERTY Number 030 CHAIRMAN COWDERY announced that the only order of business before the committee was HOUSE BILL NO. 76, "An Act relating to an exemption from and deferral of payment on municipal taxes on deteriorated property; and providing for an effective date." REPRESENTATIVE PORTER moved to adopt the proposed CS, Version LS0410\G Cook dated 3/8/99, as the working document before the committee. There being no objection, it was so ordered. Number 0080 REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO, Sponsor of HB 76, Alaska State Legislature, informed the committee that last year HB 399 was passed which allowed municipal governments to exempt or defer payment of municipal taxes on deteriorated properties. Since that time the Anchorage Municipality requested some technical changes in order to clarify some ambiguities in the statute. The changes achieve the following: clarify that a municipality may partially or totally exempt a deteriorated property from property taxes, provides that the exemption may begin any time or after substantial rehabilatation begins, and prohibits an exemption and a deferral being in place at the same time. REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO noted that the Senate has amended SB 54, its version of HB 76, in the Senate Community & Regional Affairs Committee. The changes made in the Senate are technical as well and copies of the amendment are included in the committee packet. The Senate inserted language indicating that the amount deferred each year is a lien on that property for that year which affords some protection to the city. Per the concern of an assessor in Kodiak, the language ". An ordinance adopted under this subsection must include specific eligibility requirements and require a written application for each exemption or deferral" was inserted in order to create a structure for those communities such as Kodiak that do not currently have written rules to implement deferrals or exemptions. Number 0259 REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ asked if Anchorage, since this bill is essentially concerning the McKay Building, has an ordinance that would comply. REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO replied yes, municipal ordinance 98-135 which provides a vehicle for property tax deferrals. REPRESENTATIVE GREEN asked if Representative Halcro had heard from other municipalities on this legislation. REPRESENTATIVE HALCRO informed the committee that when HB 76 was heard in House Community & Regional Affairs Committee, only Steve Van Sant, the State Assessor, testified. Mr. Van Sant recommended some language changes which were adopted. REPRESENTATIVE BERKOWITZ informed the committee that he interpreted "written" to include electronically transmited. Number 0385 REPRESENTATIVE PORTER moved to report CSHB 76, Version G, out of committee with individual recommendations. There being no objection, it was so ordered. Therefore, CSHB 76(RLS) moved out of committee. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the committee, the House Rules Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 5:10 p.m.