CANADA

$700K in property tax refunds due after N.B. retracts assessment increases on 2 forestry mills
CBC News
J.D. Irving Ltd's paper mill in east Saint John and Twin Rivers pulp mill in Edmundston have qualified for up to $700,000 in property tax refunds covering the last two years, after Service New Brunswick reversed itself on assessment increases it gave the two mills in 2021.

NATIONAL

Smaller apartments are flooding the market
AXIOS
Apartment sizes are shrinking nationally, a reversal in the rental market that saw units get bigger early in the work-from-home era. Driving the news: New apartments in 2022 measured 887 square feet on average, a 30-square-foot drop from a year earlier, per a new report from listing service RentCafe.

FLORIDA

Disabled first responders denied property tax relief under Amendment 3
Fox13
Several years ago, Florida voters chose to give first responders in the state a property tax break without realizing there was a catch in which many people who need it the most are disqualified. As a police officer, Jim Bomford saved lives, from rescuing a man from a burning car to pulling a young woman from the side of a bridge.

IDAHO

Idaho Republicans negotiate a bill to reduce property taxes. Here's what it would do
East Idaho News
As the legislative session winds down, Idaho Republicans are quickly pushing through a property tax relief bill that would direct hundreds of millions of dollars to property taxpayers annually. At the same time, it would limit school districts' ability to seek funding assistance from local voters.

NEW YORK

Princeton University properties totaling $195.8 million in assessed value removed from tax rolls for 2023
Princeton, NJ local news
Princeton University has, for many years, voluntarily paid taxes on properties that were eligible for exemption under state law. But the Ivy League school recently claimed and was granted tax exemptions for some of those properties by the municipality. The 2022 total assessed value of the properties that were removed is $195,847,700, according to a university spokesman.

NORTH DAKOTA

Senate votes to end medical school property tax levy
Prairie Public Broadcasting
The state Senate has approved a proposed state Constitutional amendment to do away with the statewide one-mill property tax for the UND Medical School. That one-mill levy collects around $11 million per biennium for the med school. Its budget is roughly $246 million.

TEXAS

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Says ‘Largest Property Tax Cut In Texas History' Would 'Destroy Everything'
BisNow
Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan is championing a property tax bill calling for $17B in cuts and a stricter cap on how much school district taxes can go up each year — a cap that would apply to commercial as well as residential real estate. But not everyone is applauding the legislation.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt's Bill Aims to Rein in ‘Out-of-Control' Public Facility Corporation Projects
CandysDirt.com
There's a lot of buzz in Texas about Public Facility Corporation projects, and it's made its way to the state Capitol. Controversy surrounding the PFC financing structure, which incentivizes developers for providing affordable housing, has been praised as the only way to attain much-needed “missing middle” housing and simultaneously criticized for taking property off the tax rolls for 75 years.

Appraisal district board meeting Friday to discuss ongoing legal issues, chief appraiser's employment
Fort Worth Report
Tarrant Appraisal District board members will meet in a special session Friday afternoon to discuss ongoing legal issues surrounding the embattled office. Board members first will seek legal advice in a closed session from the body's attorney, Matt Tepper, on two separate subjects: the ongoing vacancy created by the recall and subsequent resignation of former chair Kathryn Wilemon, and future of chief appraiser Jeff Law's employment.

Legislation would bar appraisal district lawsuits against property owners
The Austin Bulldog
If legislation introduced March 8^th by State Senator Drew Springer (R-Weatherford) gets through the legislative gauntlet and is signed into law his bill will snatch away the authority of chief appraisers to sue property owners.

Texas Senate unveils property tax cut package to benefit homeowners, seniors
Dallas Morning News
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick unveiled a property tax relief package Tuesday showing a continued divide between the leader of the Senate and House Speaker Dade Phelan on how Texas should spend a historic budget surplus to cut tax bills.

San Antonio Medical Office up for Bids Amid Downtown Woes
The Real Deal
More signs of San Antonio's struggling downtown commercial real estate market emerge. Harrison Street will auction off the Rosa Verde Towers, an 11-story, 141,000-square-foot medical office building at 343 West Houston Street, in April, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.

VIRGINIA

Portsmouth council is firing city assessor
The Virginian-Pilot
Portsmouth City Council members met in a closed session Monday to tell City Assessor Patrick Dorris he is being fired. Council members met to discuss Dorris' performance, where he was told he was being terminated. An official public vote was not taken, but one is expected at Tuesday's regular council meeting. 

WYOMING

Rep. John Bear: Property Tax Reform (Or Not) In Wyoming
Cowboy State Daily
During the 2023 general session the legislature convened knowing that the people of Wyoming were looking for a solution to the issue of rapidly rising property tax bills. Conservative legislators went to work when the problem began to present itself in the fall of 2022 by holding town halls seeking the input of constituents.