“I think it’s time we be honest with the voters,” said Oklahoma Municipal League Mike Fina to a crowd of over 300 local leaders and stakeholders from across the state.
“It's time that we look the voters in the face and stop telling them that taxes are so bad for them. Why don't we stop using that narrative?” He said.
Fina was speaking as part of a panel hosted along with the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce’s Annual State Spotlight event. Other panelists included: Russell Evans, Dean of the University of Central Oklahoma’s business college; Shawn Hime, Oklahoma State School Boards Association Director; and Chris Schroder, Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma Executive Director.
Every panelist agreed that while a reform to Oklahoma’s tax structure is sorely needed, a complete cut to property taxes is not the way to go; local governments would struggle to maintain essential public safety, education and infrastructure.
“Reform requires policy change,” Fina said. “We're not talking about policy. We're talking about cutting numbers back. That's problematic. If they actually want to reform, we wouldn't be sitting here at the Oklahoma City Chamber. The three of us would be sitting at 23rd and Lincoln explaining this to legislators.”
Property taxes are top of mind for Gov. Stitt and lawmakers
The event included a one-on-one discussion between the Chair of the Chamber, Mike Ross, and Gov. Kevin Stitt, who took the opportunity — his last appearance in the Spotlight program as governor — to pitch his own property tax proposal.
“There's some people saying let's just abolish property tax,” Stitt said. “That's not realistic. We need to fund county governments. We need to fund school districts. So, my idea is, let’s just freeze it. Let's let's just – Hey, when you buy your home and let's just stop right there. So how about that?”
Stitt didn’t seem set on that idea alone. He also suggested capping annual property tax increases to 1%, or capping tax rates in certain counties, rather than across the state, and incentivizing development and growth with new companies.
“And how about this, let's encourage counties to do some of these developments because we need more taxpayers, not more taxes,” Stitt said. “Let's not extract the money off the existing taxpayers. How about growing?”
He said he’s not sure what the legislature will ultimately do, as there are several proposals to tweak the state’s property tax code. What he said he does know is that rising property taxes are a problem.
“With seniors, with veterans, with fixed-income people, your parents, my parents, it can be significant as these property taxes go up,” Stitt said. “So, I'm just trying to limit the government and let the people keep more of their money.”
Republicans in the legislature are split between eliminating property taxes completely and adjusting existing state law while keeping the money spigot open for local governments.
Already up for floor discussion are Senate Joint Resolutions 39 and 48, filed by Senate Pro Temp Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, and sponsored by House Speaker Kyle Hilbert, R-Bristow.
If approved by the legislature, the governor, and a majority vote of the people, the constitutional amendments would aim to incentivize manufacturing industry growth by granting a 5-year property tax break to certain companies and mitigate the rising tax burden on property owners by limiting increases to their property tax rates.
Other measures, like Senate Bill 1098, by Sen. Kristen Thompson, R-Edmond, and Rep. Chris Kannady, R-Oklahoma City, would effectively increase state property tax revenue by including certain rental units in the definition of property.
But looming over anything proposed in the legislature is State Question 841, a ballot initiative filed by Sen. Shane Jett, R-Shawnee, and Rep. Jay Steagall, R-Yukon, in November, that would completely eliminate property taxes for everyone in the state by 2029.
That state question would also cost the state around $1.2 billion in recurring annual revenue once fully implemented.
