Are you curious about the status of Property Tax Incentives for Renewables? As of January 2013, the DSIREUSA.org website reports that 38 States, +Washington DC & Puerto Rico, offer property tax incentives for renewables.
http://www.dsireusa.org/documents/summarymaps/PropertyTax_map.pdf
So what is the status of property tax incentives for renewables now in Indiana? The simple answer is that the fate of the future of solar/geothermal/wind property tax incentives are still "in play" during the final week of the Indiana General Assembly. Language affecting the current current renewable energy property tax exemption is contained in HB 1234 and SB 367.
The preferred language was amended in SB 367 is as follows:
The assessed value of residential real property or a mobile home that is not assessed as real property is not to be increased as a result of an improvement that: (1) consists of a solar, wind, geothermal, or hydroelectric heating or cooling system; and (2) replaces an existing heating or cooling system.
HB 1234 Provides in the case of residential property that only the owner that installs a solar system or a wind, geothermal, or hydroelectric device after 2014 is entitled to a property tax deduction for the system or device (the change does not impact those now receiving deductions)
Rep. Jeff Thompson filed a dissent motion 3/5/14 for HB 1234 and a Conference Committee has been appointed. The Conferees and Advisors were appointed on 3/6/14 as follows:
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HB 1234 Conferee Chair
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Rep. Jeffrey Thompson
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Conferees
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Senate Conferees
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Advisors
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Senate Advisors
Action on Conference Committees during the final days and hours of the 2014 session of the Indiana General Assembly happens at a fast clip. Follow action at http://twitter.com/IndianaDG
WHAT IS A CONFERENCE COMMITTEE?
Legislators are working this week as final negotiations continue in conference committees. Conference committees are a unique step in the legislative process designed to allow different versions of a bill to be reconciled into a final agreed upon form. We thought an explanation of conference committees might be in order here.
What is a conference committee?
Bills which have passed their house of origin, but were amended by the opposite chamber must return to the house of origin to allow the author to review the changes. If an author is unsatisfied with changes and the house of origin dissents, an agreement must be negotiated between the two different versions of the bill in a joint House-Senate conference committee.
A conference committee is a temporary group with four appointed members, or conferees: a member of each party from the Senate and member of each party from the House. Other legislators also can be appointed as advisors to the conference committee, but the approval of advisors is not necessary for the bill to move forward.
Conference committee meetings are open to the public, and a one hour public notice must be given before a meeting convenes. During the meeting(s), legislators may take public testimony, discuss differences in the language, and consider proposed compromises. The resulting compromise takes the form of a conference committee report, which must be signed by each of the four conferees in order for the bill to move forward for a final vote in each chamber. Over the course of negotiations, multiple conference committee reports may be drafted.
Once signed by the four conferees, a conference committee report is filed in each chamber and put to a final vote. If approved by both chambers, a conference committee report is signed by the Senate President Pro Tempore and the Speaker of the House, then sent to the governor for his signature into law or veto.