In her freshman session, Liz led an effort to resurrect a bill to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would allow the state to assess residential property separately from commercial property and primary, owner-occupied residences separately from second homes. She needed two-thirds votes in both the House and Senate. Working across the aisle, she succeeded. This amendment will be on the ballot in the general election in November, 2024.

 

Storer successfully amended the property tax refund program to allow higher asset households with property tax burdens greater than 10% to qualify. And during the 2023 interim, she brought the idea of further expanding the property tax refund program to allow higher income households to receive reduced refunds by creating a tiered system for different income brackets. This resulted in a Revenue Committee sponsored bill, HB 0004, in the 2024 budget session. It passed the House unanimously and receive a single no vote on the final vote in the Senate. Governor Gordon signed the bill, although he struck the top income tier, failing to recognize the high burden that property taxes are having on Teton County’s our middle-income families. 

 

During the 2024 session, Storer also successfully crafted a short-term exemption bill to save property owners 25% of their property tax, up to $2M in value, for the next two years. This would have provided most Teton County homeowners a savings of almost $5450. On the last day of the session, Liz stood up to her colleagues in both the House and Senate who suggested that a dollar amount exemption would serve the rest of the state better even though it would have left Teton folks with little to show. “The rest of the state didn’t pay one-third of the residential property tax in the state, Teton County did,” stated Storer. Storer prevailed and the bill passed almost unanimously in both houses. Sadly, Governor Gordon vetoed the bill, causing several legislators to call for a special session that was ultimately defeated. 

 

Looking ahead, Storer knows she will be working with her colleagues on the Revenue Committee to craft bills that could be enacted as a result of the constitutional amendment passing in November. “This will give us an opportunity to craft property tax revisions in a thoughtful, constitutional manner,” something she is looking forward to working on.