Committee approves property tax rebate bill

A bill that would double the property tax rebate that low income senior citizens receive each year won approval on a 5-2 vote today in the Senate Taxation Committee.

The catch is senators amended Senate Bill 122 so that senior citizens will not receive any additional money before 2012. Some seniors now receive as much as $500 a year to compensate them for the property taxes they paid. The bill would increase the rebate to $1,000, a step that would cost the state an additional $3 million every two years.

Taxation Chairman Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, noted that even if the Legislature backed the bill this session, legislators could repeal it at the 2011 session -- and seniors would get no more money.

"If we are still in a world of hurt financially and this passes, they can change it next session," he said.