2003 Senate Bill 553

Introduced in the Senate

June 4, 2003

Introduced by Sen. Bruce Patterson (R-7)

To revise the definition of “other protected obligations” in the law authorizing downtown development authorities (DDAs), to include those obligations “in which a written agreement with a developer was entered into by a municipality or authority before August 1, 1993,” instead of August 19, 1993, as under current law. This affects tax increment financing used by DDAs, which allow the authorities to capture increased local property tax revenue, but not school tax revenue, that results from financing certain improvement projects. Due to limitations on local property tax rates imposed by Proposal A starting in 1994, the payment of some existing obligations, called “other protected obligations,” could not be met without allowing an exemption for either the capture of school taxes, or reimbursement by the state. This bill would extend this exemption to the obligations of particular DDAs which do not qualify under the current statute.

Referred to the Committee on Economic Development, Small Business, and Regulatory Reform