LITTLE ROCK — A bill to extend by a few days the deadline for paying property taxes became on Tuesday the first bill this session that has cleared the House Revenue and Taxation Committee.
Committee members applauded after House Bill 1255 by Rep. Lane Jean, R-Magnolia, received a recommendation that sent it to the House.
Rep. John Burris, R-Harrison, said he didn’t want to leave the wrong impression with audience members.
“We were clapping for ourselves, not Rep. Jean,” Burris said. “That was the first bill we passed out.”
“Point well taken,” said Rep. Davy Carter, R-Cabot, the committee chairman.
The committee has been holding bills that reduce taxes to see how they would affect the overall state budget, pending negotiations over which ones, if any, will pass.
Those include bills for capital-gains tax cuts, income-tax credits, and sales- and use-tax exemptions.
HB1255 didn’t raise or cut taxes.
“It has no fiscal impact on our budget,” Jean said. “People get to keep their money five more days. People like me are pretty bad about waiting until the last minute to pay their property tax.”
Jean said the bill extends the deadline for paying property taxes from Oct. 10 to Oct. 15.
Columbia County Tax Collector Cindy Walker said that there is a “conflict” with the federal holiday of Columbus Day, which sometimes falls on Oct. 10.
“We do not take that day as a holiday but people come in and say, ‘Well, the banks were closed, and we thought you were closed,’” Walker said. “And if [collectors] slap them with a 10 percent penalty [for being late] [collectors] are not thought highly of.”
Front Section, Pages 4 on 02/09/2011