Tax department urges repeal of moratoriums and a staged appeals report for RAD transition

Department of Taxes staff and legislative counsel told the committee the bill's current moratorium language and placeholder appeals provisions risk stalling productive municipal reappraisals and leaving taxpayers without a clear appeals path when the new regional assessment district (RAD) system comes online.

Kirby Keaton, legislative counsel, summarized the section-by-section status of H.955 and called attention to Department of Taxes concerns about subsection language in section 53 that would bar local master appraisals until RADs are declared. Rebecca, Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Taxes, told the committee the moratoriums were originally framed to coordinate local reappraisal timing with RAD rollouts, but with the RAD start date shifting (committee discussion put some elements as late as 2029), the moratoriums create a "no man's land" in which towns could be prevented from doing otherwise-productive reappraisals.

"We would actually recommend just repealing the moratorium," Rebecca said, while also noting the PDR director would retain discretion to help towns onboard into coordinated six-year reappraisal cycles. On appeals (section 58), counsel and the department discussed options: keep current placeholder appeals language, remove the appeals subsection and require the department to return with a proposal, or include a statutory report-back timetable. Members favored a requirement that Tax report back with proposed appeals procedures in time for committee review.

Committee members flagged implementation risks, including the workload for municipal staff and the need to craft streamlined forms and training so appeals volumes do not overwhelm boards of civil authority. The committee directed staff to prepare language to strike or revise subsection a of section 53 and to require a clear report-back on appeals procedures with a proposed timetable for review.