On January 13, 2012, Sen. Mark Scheffel and Rep. Kevin Priola introduced SB 12-052 – Concerning a Property Tax Exemption for Business Personal Property. This summary is published here courtesy of the Colorado Bar Association’s e-Legislative Report.

Under current law, the amount of the exemption from property tax for business personal property listed on a single personal property schedule is $5,500 for the current property tax year cycle, $7,000 for the next property tax year cycle, and an inflation-adjusted amount for each property tax year cycle thereafter. The bill increases the business personal property exemption to $14,000 for the next property tax year cycle, which in turn increases the future inflation-adjusted amount of the exemption.

For a period of 10 years, the bill also exempts a portion of the business personal property of a state-assessed public utility through the creation of a valuation cap. The valuation cap is based on the actual value of the public utility’s operating property and plant for the 2011 property tax year, or a later property tax year in the case of a new public utility, with an incremental increase each year thereafter during the 10-year period. The value of property above the cap is deemed attributable to business personal property, unless the property tax administrator determines otherwise. The bill is assigned to the Finance Committee; the bill is scheduled for committee review on Thursday, February 16 Upon Adjournment (generally, sometime between 9:30 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.

Since this summary, the bill was postponed indefinitely by the Senate Finance Committee.

Summaries of other featured bills can be found here.