House eyes property tax changes

The House is expected to take up its property tax bill after returning from an early afternoon lunch break.

House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Cooper, R-Anderson, said the House will likely amend its bill to make negotiations with the Senate easier. That could include breaking the tax-swap plan into separate pieces within the bill.

Such a change could allow the House to accept something smaller than its $1.2 billion swap plan, Cooper said.

The House-passed plan would raise the state sales tax two cents on the dollar and eliminate about 85 percent of owner-occupied property taxes. The Senate-passed tax plan gives residents in each county a local option to raise sales taxes in exchange for cuts in property tax bills.

A conference committee has not yet been appointed to discuss the differences.