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This video is of the hearing before the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee of the Utah Legislature on February 23, 2023 concerning HB 260, a bill presented by Rep. Joel Briscoe to improve the Circuit Breaker program that provides property tax or rent relief to qualifying Utahns.

This program helped 42,237 HOUSEHOLDS in Utah in 2022. How many people does that household figure represent? 50,000? 70,000?

And at least 12,171 of those households were seniors, most on fixed incomes qualifying just on the income guidelines. This hearing was to consider adjusting the income brackets for those seniors.

This total does not include seniors who qualified under different Circuit Breaker components, like the 25,282 households of disabled veterans and their surviving spouses.

At about the 2:50 mark, you will hear the chair, Senator Dan McCay, speak in favor of deferral programs and “moving away” from Circuit Breaker, calling Circuit Breaker relief for seniors on fixed incomes a “wealth transfer.”

In 2022, the maximum household income allowed for applicants to qualify for a small amount of relief was $35,807. Wealth? Circuit Breaker relief provides a life preserver to seniors on fixed incomes so they can tread water just a little bit easier or a little bit longer. No one is climbing up the side ladder on a yacht.

At about the 6:13 mark, you will hear excellent testimony from Danny Harris representing AARP of Utah, explaining why BOTH programs could play a part in property tax relief for seniors, describing the major hurdles that the deferral program presents AND the longterm costsaving benefits to the state of Utah that the more accessible senior income component of Circuit Breaker currently provides to more seniors, many on fixed incomes.

Mr. Harris nails it. Would you rather give a check once a year to someone on Medicaid to help keep them living in their homes where they're comfortable, or would you rather see them financially forced from their homes into a shared room at a care facility, the monthly rent for which would be paid for by our tax dollars?
Think about it. This Circuit Breaker program SAVES the state money in the long term while respecting and honoring the lives of our seniors.

Before a full statewide roll out in all counties that will happen in 2024, deferral WAS instituted in two counties in 2023, Salt Lake County and Weber County.

The most current figures available from 2022 show those two counties provided property tax relief to 3,174 senior households having income less than $36,000, or 1/3 of the total recipients statewide in 2022.

How many households in those counties received relief from the new deferral program in 2023?

ONE household in Salt Lake County and ONE household in Weber County.

It’s absolutely clear that while being a useful tool in the tool box for a few, deferral is no substitute for the senior income component of Circuit Breaker and we should support that.

In each of the last two years at the legislature, bills to improve Circuit Breaker passed the Revenue and Taxation Committees in both the House and Senate. Both years, the bills were then passed in the House UNANIMOUSLY 680, but died in the Senate. Why?

Let’s improve this program for our seniors on fixed incomes in 2024!

The Senate hearing for this year's bill, SB 250, will be this Wednesday, February 21, 2024 at 8 AM.
You can see info on the bill here: https://le.utah.gov/~2024/bills/stati...

YOU CAN HELP OUR SENIORS BY PHONING OR EMAILING ALL 8 MEMBERS OF THE SENATE REVENUE AND TAXATION COMMITTEE .
PLEASE DO IT TODAY!

Here's their contact information:

Sen. Daniel McCay (R) Senate 18 Chair
Mobile: 8018104110 Email: [email protected]
Counties: Salt Lake, Utah

Sen. Curtis S. Bramble (R) Senate 24
Mobile: 8013615802 Email: [email protected]
Counties: Utah, Wasatch

Sen. Kirk A. Cullimore (R) Senate 19 Majority Assistant Whip
Mobile: 3858679474 Email: [email protected]
County: Salt Lake

Sen. Luz Escamilla (D) Senate 10 Minority Leader
Mobile: 8015506434 Email: [email protected]
County: Salt Lake

Sen. Lincoln Fillmore (R) Senate 17 Senate Rules Vice Chair
Mobile: 3858318902 Email: [email protected]
County: Salt Lake

Sen. Wayne A. Harper (R) Senate 16 President Pro Tempore
Home: 8015665466 Email: [email protected]
County: Salt Lake

Sen. Don L. Ipson (R) Senate 29 Executive Appropriations Vice Chair
Mobile: 4358175281 Email: [email protected]
County: Washington

Sen. Chris H. Wilson (R) Senate 2
Mobile: 4357702861 Email: [email protected]
Counties: Cache, Rich

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!
To contact me about Circuit Breaker, email [email protected]
To see other videos about Circuit Breaker, search You Tube for Utah Circuit Breaker.