Description: House Bill 309 would expand an existing program wherein certain homeowners could defer property tax payments until after the owner’s death. 

Rating: -2

Does it create, expand, or enlarge any agency, board, program, function, or activity of government? 

House Bill 309 would expand an existing property tax deferral program to encompass more people. The deferment would last until the sale of the property or the death of the taxpayer.

(-1)

Does it transfer a function of the private sector to the government? 

Elderly homeowners may make use of reverse mortgages in order to ameliorate the effects of declining revenue streams and cost of living increases. Expanding this program would provide the taxpayer with a government-administered program to accomplish a similar result, potentially at a lower interest rate.

(-1) 

Analyst’s Note:

The proposal has a secondary effect of silencing critics of confiscatory tax policies by allowing the taxpayer to defer payments until after death. This works well, of course, for the entity imposing the taxes because no longer do certain property taxpayers need to show up in opposition to spending or tax increase proposals.