Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed a bipartisan bill into law last week that puts more guardrails on how local governments assess the value of real estate. Assessments are what provide the basis for property taxes.
The newly signed bill, SB 179, requires tax assessors to be accredited by the state, prevents municipalities from raising the assessed value of properties during an appeal process and changes the default for who hears appeals.
Juneau Democratic Sen. Jesse Kiehl said the aim is to make the property assessment process in the state more fair and transparent for property owners.
“I was very pleased to see the governor sign that bill. It has a lot of provisions in it, almost all of which I like and are good,” he said.
The tax assessment portion of the bill was originally introduced in a separate measure by Kiehl and in the Alaska House by Anchorage Republican Rep. Julie Coulombe. It was later folded into another bill as the legislative session neared its end.
That bill was sponsored by Kenai Republican Sen. Jesse Bjorkman. It also allows local governments to exempt farm structures from property taxes and outlaw taxes on real estate sales.
When Kiehl’s bill was first introduced in the Alaska Senate, it received a lot of support, particularly from residents in Juneau and Haines, who said they had seen steep jumps in their property assessments. That led them to question if their assessors were being transparent and fair.
“This is another one of those pieces of legislation that was brought in by citizens who saw something they didn’t think was always working right,” he said. “So, working with them, I’m really proud of where we ended up.”
The regulations will go into effect on Jan. 1.
