The House has passed the following bills which impact the property assessments process. These bills will cross over to the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee for hearings.

HB 1402 – Property Tax Appeals – Payment of Refunds – Deadline requires counties to pay refunds resulting from property tax assessment appeals within an established time frame. MACo supported with amendments to make the requirement more feasible. MACo’s amendments sought to extend the amount of time from 21 days to 30 days, and begin counting the days after the county receives notice of the decision from the appeal authority. The bill sponsor, Delegate Herb McMillan, introduced the amendments on MACo’s behalf, and the House adopted them.

MACo did not take a position on the following bills:

HB 592 – Real Property Tax – Assessment Appeals Process requires the supervisor of assessments and the Property Tax Assessment Appeals Boards (PTAAB) to hold hearings on specified appeals no later than 90 days after receiving the appeal. The bill passed the House with amendments.

HB 1394 – Property Tax – Reassessment After Appeal prohibits the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), when conducting a real property reassessment after an appeal, from automatically resetting the assessment of the property to its value before the appeal. SDAT may only increase the assessment of the property above the level determined during the appeal if circumstances arising after the appeal justify an increase in the assessment.

Follow MACo’s advocacy on these and other tax bills by clicking here.