On January 18, 2024, MACo Legislative Director Kevin Kinnally testified before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee in support of SB 67- Property Tax Credit- Retail Service Station Conversions. This bill allows counties and municipalities to grant property tax credit for certain converted retail service stations. It also requires the state to pay participating local governments 50% of the property tax revenue that would have been collected in the absence of the tax credit.
The hearing also afforded an opportunity for MACo to articulate its broader views on local revenue autonomy – stressing that the full flexibility in SB 67 (letting the local governing body evaluate the local effects, and to consider adopting it locally) is most suitable for local property taxes and other revenue sources.
MACo generally supports legislation that provides broad authority to enact tax incentives for revitalization and tax relief purposes and welcomes the opportunity to work with state policymakers to develop flexible and optional tools to create broad or targeted tax incentives. Counties prefer the approach offered by SB 67, as it provides local autonomy to determine the best way to provide these incentives rather than those that mandate reductions in local revenue sources.
SB 67’s cross-file, HB 12, was heard on January 25, 2024 in the House Ways and Means Committee. Kevin Kinnally testified in support of this bill.
