Montgomery – A majority of Alabama legislators say they favor a measure to change property tax reappraisals in Alabama from every year to every four years. That's according to an Associated Press survey of the House and Senate.
It's an issue that has been debated in the Legislature since March 2003, two months after Governor Bob Riley was inaugurated for his first term. That's when his administration changed the system of counties reappraising property from every four years to annually.
Riley has said the move was necessary because Alabama law requires annual reappraisals. But critics have said doing the reappraisals every year amounts to a tax increase for Alabama citizens.
In responses to the AP survey, 86 percent of senators and 62 percent of House members said they favor reappraising property every four years instead of annually. Seven percent of senators said they were opposed and 7 percent were undecided, while 17 percent of House members were opposed and 21 percent undecided.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)