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Title: Property Tax Relief and Equity Act of 2023

Section 1: Short Title

This Act may be cited as the "Property Tax Relief and Equity Act of 2023."

Section 2: Purpose

The purpose of this Act is to reform property tax law in the United States to reduce the financial burden on homeowners, promote fairness and equity in the property tax system, and ensure adequate funding for essential public services.

Section 3: Definitions

(a) "Property" refers to real property, including land and improvements thereon, such as buildings and structures.
(b) "Fair market value" refers to the estimated price at which a property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts.
(c) "Assessment ratio" refers to the percentage of a property's fair market value used to determine its assessed value for property tax purposes.
(d) "Homestead exemption" refers to an exemption applied to the assessed value of a primary residence, reducing the taxable value of the property and thus lowering the property tax liability for the homeowner.

Section 4: National Property Tax Standards

(a) To promote fairness and equity in property tax assessment, each state shall establish a uniform assessment ratio for all classes of property, which shall not exceed 80% of the property's fair market value.
(b) States shall revalue properties at least once every five years to ensure accurate and up-to-date property assessments, with provisions for more frequent reassessments at the discretion of local jurisdictions.
(c) States shall develop and implement a transparent, centralized, and publicly accessible database containing property assessments and tax information, enabling taxpayers to access information about their own properties and compare assessments with similar properties.

Section 5: Homestead Exemption

(a) To provide property tax relief to homeowners, a national homestead exemption shall be established. The exemption shall be applied to the assessed value of a homeowner's primary residence, up to a maximum exemption amount of $50,000.
(b) The homestead exemption shall be adjusted annually for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(c) To qualify for the homestead exemption, a homeowner must apply to their local tax assessor's office and provide proof of residency, such as a driver's license, utility bill, or voter registration.

Section 6: Property Tax Circuit Breaker

(a) To further protect low-income homeowners from excessive property tax burdens, a property tax circuit breaker shall be established. This program shall provide a refundable tax credit to homeowners whose property taxes exceed a certain percentage of their household income.
(b) The property tax circuit breaker shall be available to homeowners with a household income below a specified threshold, which shall be adjusted annually for inflation.
(c) The percentage of household income used to determine eligibility for the property tax circuit breaker shall be determined by each state but shall not exceed 6% of the homeowner's household income.

Section 7: Funding for Essential Public Services

(a) To ensure that essential public services, such as education, public safety, and infrastructure, continue to receive adequate funding, a portion of federal income tax revenue shall be allocated to a dedicated fund for distribution to states and local jurisdictions based on need and population.
(b) States and local jurisdictions shall be required to maintain a minimum level of local funding for essential public services to qualify for federal funding assistance.

Section 8: Effective Date

This Act shall take effect on January 1, 2024, with the first property tax bills reflecting the changes implemented by this Act due in the calendar year 2025.