Elderly Assistance Fund - Primary School District Tax Reduction

Arizona

2019

No Variation in Receipt of Benefits

Credit

Counties with a population over 2 million people are required to have a fund to reduce school district taxes. The county treasurer shall use the monies in the fund to proportionately reduce the primary school district taxes that are levied against the property of all qualified individuals in the county for the following tax year. In 2015, the state removed the requirement for counties to establish a fund with monies received from the proceeds of tax lien sales. Existing monies in the fund may continue to be used to the assistance program. Maricopa County is the only county in Arizona with a population large enough to qualify for this program. There was not enough money appropriated to the fund in 2018 to fully fund the program. The residual funding is expected to expire by the end of 2019.

Credit to the property tax bill

Residential

Eligible property includes individual’s primary residence and up to 10 acres of undeveloped appurtenant land. The resident must have resided in the primary residence for 2 years. “Primary residence” means all owner occupied real property and improvements to that real property in the state that is a single family home, condominium, townhouse or an owner occupied mobile home and that is used for residential purposes.

Age

Homeowner

Income Ceiling

Principal Residence

Other Criteria

Benefit is limited to residents of the state that are 65 years of age or older. For married couples, at least one of the owners must be 65 years or older. If one person owns the property, the person's total income from all sources including nontaxable income shall not exceed 400% for singles, or 500% if married, of the supplemental security income benefit rate of the social security act. Benefit is limited to individuals who live in an organized school district. Eligibility is limited to those individuals who are eligible for property assessment freeze. A county must have a population of over 2 million in order to be eligible for creating this program. Maricopa County is the only county that qualifies.

Local government is unable to exercise an option

No local option regarding program features

Local government covers all of its tax loss

AZ102_RR19