LANSING – Legislation that expands on Governor Rick Snyder’s proposed property tax credit by essentially restoring the credit to where it stood before the 2011 tax changes was reported unanimously to the Senate floor Wednesday by the Finance Committee.

In reporting SB 752 , some committee members said the issue raised by the proposal, which could cost the state $270 million in revenues, would likely not be resolved until the May Revenue Estimating Conference.

The amendment brought by Sen. Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor) did not have as easy a time getting adopted. It was added to the original bill on a 4-2 vote, with committee Chair Sen. Jack Brandenburg (R-Harrison Township) abstaining.

Warren was joined by fellow Democrat Sen. Steve Bieda of Warren along with Sen. Mark Jansen (R-Gaines Township) and Sen. John Proos (R-St. Joseph) in supporting the amendment.

Opposing the amendment were Sen. John Pappageorge (R-Troy) and Sen. Dave Robertson (R-Grand Blanc) (with Pappageorge anguishing for a moment before deciding he would not abstain).

Warren told reporters after the committee meeting that Democrats wanted to see greater investments in the state’s schools and roads, but it was also important to help persons who saw higher taxes after the 2011 changes that resulted in replacement of the Michigan Business Tax with the much slimmer Corporate Income Tax.

“The average family is paying $1,300 more in taxes” since 2011, Warren said, and expanding the property tax credit and trying to restore the state’s child care credit would be the best way to help those families. An income tax cut would help higher income individuals more than the average person, she said.

Lt. Governor Brian Calley and Budget Director John Nixon said much the same thing supporting Snyder’s proposal to expand the current property tax credit (which was cut in 2011) when Snyder unveiled his 2014-15 budget proposal last week.

As introduced, SB 752 would have expanded Snyder’s proposal, in part by allowing a credit for persons whose property taxes exceed 3 percent of their total household resources and slowing the income phase-out so that individuals could get some level of credit with incomes of up to $70,000 a year.

Sen. Dave Hildenbrand (R-Lowell), the bill sponsor, said the legislation would cost the state $184 million a year, and would be eligible for persons filing their 2013 taxes.

However, Hildenbrand also said he could support Warren’s proposal.

Under the Warren amendment, the state’s maximum property tax credit would be reduced by 10 percent for each $1,000 in excess of total resources of $73,650. Current law reduces the maximum credit by 10 percent for every $1,000 in total resources higher than $41,000. As originally introduced, the legislation would have reduced the maximum credit by 5 percent for every $1,000 above total resources of $51,000. The Warren amendment also restored the credit to persons whose property taxes exceed 3.5 percent of their total resources.

Even Republicans on the committee supporting the amendment were tentative. Jansen said he would give it a cautious yes as he did not know what the final revenue numbers would be until the May Revenue Estimating Conference.

And Proos said he was “leery” of the amendment, but would support it to help advance middle-class tax relief.

Pappageorge was outspoken in opposing the Warren amendment, and in some respects the original bill. “There is no money hidden in a drawer. It is all committed, every penny,” he said, urging any action on the legislation wait until the May revenue meeting.

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