Senate Finance approves amended property‑tax bill; portability of senior portable benefit ends under strike‑below

Senate Finance advanced SB 26‑116 as amended after detailed testimony about the senior homestead portability experiment and the fiscal consequences of extending benefits.

Sponsor Senator Weisman said the introduced bill originally included four distinct property‑tax proposals — senior portability, a lodging tax mechanism for statutory towns, changes to business personal property (BPP) indexing, and lodging valuation mechanics — but the strike‑below grafted by the committee narrowed the measure. The adopted amendment (L005) removes portability continuation and instead freezes the BPP exemption at $58,000, removing the annual inflation adjuster.

Keith Erfmeyer, the state's property tax administrator, told the committee the qualified senior portable classification will end after property tax year 2026 and that roughly 2,400 households had applied under the program so far. Legislative fiscal analyst David Hanson estimated that the portable class produced about a $4.4 million benefit for the next property tax year under current projections; he said reimbursements are processed in the spring.

Committee members pressed on clarity for homeowners who relied on portability to downsize during the two‑year experiment. Erfmeyer confirmed the classification and assessed value reduction will not continue automatically beyond the two years without new legislative action; he said assessors need statute to provide an assessment rate beyond 2026 to continue administering the class.

Supporters of the amendment — including the Special District Association, Colorado Municipal League and the Colorado State Fire Chiefs — said the revised language addressed concerns about local government backfill and moved their positions from oppose to monitor. Opponents and some business groups said earlier versions of the bill risked additional burdens on small businesses.

The committee adopted the strike‑below (L005) and moved SB 116, as amended, to Appropriations.

What happens next: Appropriations will review the fiscal impacts of freezing the BPP inflation adjuster and confirm state backfill obligations before further committee or floor action.