House backs increasing homestead tax credit

LITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas House has approved a proposal to raise the property tax credit that thousands of homeowners receive for their primary residence.
The House on Thursday voted 89-0 for a bill that would raise the homestead property tax credit from $350 to $375. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson last year called for increasing the credit, citing a surplus in the fund that reimburses counties for it.
The credit is funded by a one-half cent statewide sales and use tax. The tax credit was established through a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2000 and was raised in 2007 by Hutchinson's Democratic predecessor, former Gov. Mike Beebe, from $300 to $350.
The measure now heads to the Senate.