By Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice
Oklahoma voters on Tuesday rejected a state question that would have limited increases in property taxes.
State Question 847 proposed a 1.75 percent cap on yearly growth in the taxable assessed value of a homestead or agricultural property. Other properties’ value could be assessed at no more than 4 percentmore than the year before. This would have slowed how much property owners’ taxes increased over time.
Similar limits on property value growth, ranging from 0.35 percent to 1.75 percent, would have applied to Oklahomans over age 65 who earn too much income to qualify for a “senior freeze” that halts property tax increases.
The state Legislature put SQ 847 on the ballot to offer some amount of relief from rising costs, particularly for homeowners also struggling with skyrocketing home insurance premiums.
Critics have said the state question would deal a blow to funding for school districts and other public services without offering a way to replace the lost money.
The Oklahoma Tax Commission estimated local tax jurisdictions would have lost $45.78 million in expected property tax revenue over the first year had SQ 847 passed.
House Speaker Kyle Hilbert (R-Bristow) said concerns about the cost of property taxes were “very loud at the state Capitol” this year.
The state currently allows homesteads and agricultural land to increase by no more than 3 percent in assessed value per year and other properties to grow in valuation by no more than 5 percent annually. State lawmakers proposed the ballot measure to let voters choose whether they wanted to lower those caps.
“It looks like the voters of Oklahoma tonight said no,” Hilbert said at a GOP election watch party in Oklahoma City on Tuesday night. “They don’t want to see changes to property taxes, and so moving forward, we’ll take that into consideration.”
