Another avenue to possibly look into -- even without getting around the uniformity clause, look into categorical exemptions. You made a brief nod to this in terms of asking for a new constitutional exemption, but there might already be existing exemption language on the books of the constitution that can be repurposed.
For instance a "universal building exemption" transforms an existing property tax into a land value tax by simply untaxing all the buildings. Ironically, a MORE aggressive tax shift (full exemption) might be more in line with constitutional requirements than a modest tax shift (with two different tax rates). That's because a 0% tax rate on buildings is mathematically equivalent to the SAME uniform property tax rate as before, but just subtract the full value of the building via an exemption before calculating the assessed value. Now taxation is uniform, you just have a new category of exemptions (all buildings), piggybacking off of existing rules that allow localities to define exemptions.
That said, this all depends on how flexible your state constitution's exemption clauses are.
My guess is they probably aren't that flexible. The agriculture, undeveloped land, manufacturer's materials, and livestock were all amended to be listed as classifications to real property. And one of the court cases I listed states that land, buildings, and improvements are all real property that are assessed together. My guess would be a judge stating that unless land and buildings/improvements were also listed in this article of the constitution, they remain as one class of real property and need to be taxed uniformly.
Another avenue to possibly look into -- even without getting around the uniformity clause, look into categorical exemptions. You made a brief nod to this in terms of asking for a new constitutional exemption, but there might already be existing exemption language on the books of the constitution that can be repurposed.
For instance a "universal building exemption" transforms an existing property tax into a land value tax by simply untaxing all the buildings. Ironically, a MORE aggressive tax shift (full exemption) might be more in line with constitutional requirements than a modest tax shift (with two different tax rates). That's because a 0% tax rate on buildings is mathematically equivalent to the SAME uniform property tax rate as before, but just subtract the full value of the building via an exemption before calculating the assessed value. Now taxation is uniform, you just have a new category of exemptions (all buildings), piggybacking off of existing rules that allow localities to define exemptions.
That said, this all depends on how flexible your state constitution's exemption clauses are.
My guess is they probably aren't that flexible. The agriculture, undeveloped land, manufacturer's materials, and livestock were all amended to be listed as classifications to real property. And one of the court cases I listed states that land, buildings, and improvements are all real property that are assessed together. My guess would be a judge stating that unless land and buildings/improvements were also listed in this article of the constitution, they remain as one class of real property and need to be taxed uniformly.