Residential Property Tax Relief Programs

[X] If the applicant dies, the taxes and accrued interest will become due, unless the surviving spouse of the original applicant qualifies for and enters into a tax deferral agreement. If the property is sold or the use of the property changes so as to make it ineligible for a homestead exemption, the balance of deferred taxes and interest shall become due. If the amount of taxes deferred plus any other liens on the property exceeds 85% of the fair market value, the applicant will be required to pay that portion in excess of 85%. If the applicant fails to pay this amount, the entire balance of deferred taxes and interest becomes due within 30 days.

[X] This program works in conjunction with the Property Tax Exemption Program for Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons. You should also enroll in the Exemption Program administered by your county assessor. This will provide you the maximum amount of assistance. Apply for assistance 30 days before taxes are due. Mobile home may qualify even if the applicant does not own the land. However, this program does not apply if ownership is through a life estate, lease for life, revocable trust, or shared ownership in a cooperative housing unit.

[X] The maximum credit is the amount provided as a homeowner's credit for the lowest household income bracket for participation in the deferral program.

[X] Local governments have a broad range of options available in designing a relief program. As a result, no two programs are identical. Prior to adopting such a program, a committee of no less than five residents shall study the fiscal effects of such relief on the municipality property tax revenue and make recommendations as to the form and extent of the program. Such a plan may be amended by the legislative body upon recommendation by its board of finance without additional study undertaken initially.

[X] Applicants who apply for assessment freezes are still eligible for property and sales tax rebates if they qualify for that benefit.

[X] Retroactively effective 1 January 2017, the requirements to be considered a surviving spouse were expanded. Enacted by 2017 Utah Laws ch. 391. The renter’s credit may be claimed only for rent that does not constitute a “rental assistance payment.”

[X] Effective 23 September 2017, for claims filed in 2018 and thereafter, in order to qualify for the benefit, applicants must meet one of the following criteria: (1) claimant or claimant's spouse must have earned income during the year; (2) must be disabled; (3) or must be 62 years of age or older by the last day of the year before filing. In computing household income, a claimant may deduct $500 for each dependent living with the claimant. For renters, property taxes are assumed to be 20% of rent if heat is included or 25% of rent if heat is not included in the rent.

[X] With the exception of a service-connected totally disabled veteran of the United States Armed Forces, every person filing for the homestead exemption who is totally disabled and is less than 65 years of age must apply for the homestead exemption on an annual basis. The maximum exemption is adjusted every 2 years by the cost of living index of the United States Department of Labor if it changes by at least 1%.

[X] Effective 25 August 2017 the maximum income limitation for taxable year 2017 is $65,000 for qualified property located in a county with 3 million or more inhabitants and $55,000 for qualified property located in a county with fewer than 3 million inhabitants. For taxable years 2018 and thereafter, $65,000 for all qualified property. Effective 25 August 2017 for taxable year 2017 and thereafter, in counties of 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, the amount of the exemption shall be the greater of the amount of the exemption otherwise calculated or $2,000. In accordance with 2017 Ill. Laws ch. 100-401 The application process for this programs is administered by the counties.

[X] Effective 14 April 2015, the sections regarding the Elderly Assistance Fund were removed from Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 42-18153. This removed the description of State Funding for Local Tax Loss. This was enacted by 2015 Ariz. Session Laws. Ch. 324 § 1 The application must be filed with the local assessor by September 1 and must be reapply every 3 years.

[X] This exemption may be combined with other exemptions found within chapter 59 section 5.

[X] Form and program levels for 2018 to be filed in 2019 should be released from late 2018 to early 2019. The application must be submitted by the date that the income tax is due. If they do not need to file taxes, the claim is due April 15th.

[X] Applications are administered by local county collectors who determine eligibility of applicants. Applications must be filed by March 1 of each year.

[X] The program income thresholds refer to a taxpayer's adjusted gross income from his or her federal income tax return. Effective 1 January 2017, for the taxable years commencing 2017, and 2018, this property tax credit shall be allowed only for a Connecticut resident who is 65 years of age or older before the close of the applicable taxable year, or who claims one or more dependents for the federal income tax for the applicable taxable year. in accordance with the 2017 (June Spec. Sess.) Conn. Pub. Acts. no. 17-2 § 644. "Income" is income from all sources including but not limited to wages, pensions and disability benefits. Social security benefit adjustments, military retirement benefits, sale of local and state bonds among others are not counted as income.

[X] The claimant must have fire and casualty insurance. The deferral becomes a lien on the house and is due when the property is sold, the owner passes away, or they are no longer eligible. The interest rate on the deferral is 5%.

[X] For the purposes of this exemption, household income includes retirement, survivor, or disability benefits under the Social Security Act above the maximum limit. For 2017 the Social Security maximum benefit is $64,488. It also includes any other public or private retirement, disability, or pension system. According to Ga. Const. Art. VII, § II, Paragraph II (2), homestead exemptions levied by local taxing jurisdictions may be granted by local law conditioned upon approval by a majority of the qualified electors residing within the limits of the local taxing jurisdiction voting in a referendum thereon.

[X] This program is optional for qualifying seniors. If a homeowner elects to participate, a lien will be placed against the property by the state for the amount of property taxes deferred, which must be repaid to the state with interest. Deferred property taxes must be repaid when any of the following occurs: (1) The property is sold or transferred (2) All qualifying homeowners die (3) The homeowner voluntarily removes himself/herself from the program (4) The property no longer qualifies as a homestead If the annual household income of the applicant exceeds $60,000 in any given year, the homeowner is obligated to inform the Department of Revenue and may not defer any property taxes that year. Failure to do this will result in the application of a penalty.

[X] This program is subject to annual appropriation. Funding was not provided for this program for this year. “Totally disabled” means a person 18 years of age or older whose physical or mental condition permanently prevents the person from performing any substantial gainful employment during the 1 year period immediately preceding the date of application for a refund. In determining assets, the following property is exempt: (1) The structure and lands occupied as the applicant's primary residence; (2) household furnishings and personal belongings; and (3) one personal motor vehicle per adult in the household; (4) assets held under a bona fide pension plan or individual retirement account (IRA); (5) the cash value of any life insurance policies held.

[X] Retroactively effective 1 January 2017, the requirements to be considered a surviving spouse were expanded. Enacted by L. 2017 c. 391.

[X] Effective 19 October 2017, benefit can be applied to additional state property tax. Enacted by 2017 Wash. 3rd Sp. Sess. Laws ch. 13 pt. III § 311 You may be eligible for a refund if you paid prior years’ taxes because of a mistake, oversight, or a lack of knowledge about this program. You must meet all of the qualifications for the exemption as if you had applied at the time the application was due. Separate applications must be submitted for each of the tax years. In order to receive a refund, applications must be filed within three years of the date the taxes were due. Refunds will not be made beyond the three years. The exempt status may be transferred to a new residence with the value of the new residence frozen as of 1 January of the year of change. If resident moves to Washington from another state, the exemption may be transfer to the new residence if owner meets all other eligibility requirements and provides proof of the prior exemption and its cancellation date.

[X] The deferral becomes payable when the resident dies or the residence is sold. Application is due March 1 of each year unless otherwise specified by the local government authorizing the program.

[X] This program was reinstated in 2016 after being suspended by the legislature in 2009. Annual application must be submitted. They can be filed between 1 October 2017 and 10 February 2018. Limited funds are available and approval is on a first-come, first served basis. The funds are available through appropriation. Generally the forms become available in September of each year and the applications may be submitted between 1 October of that year and 10 February in the subsequent year. The interest rate on the postponed taxes is 7% per year and the postponed taxes create a lien on the property. Payment for postponed taxes may be made any time for either a portion or the full amount deferred. However, they must be repaid when the owner moves or sells the property. In addition the taxes are due if future taxes become delinquent or the owner refinances or obtains a reverse mortgage. Household income is the total income received by all persons (except minors, full-time students, and renters) who resided in the home during the year for which deferral is requested. Income is the Adjusted Gross Income on the applicant's federal tax form. Income also includes: •California State Lottery winnings in excess of $600; 100% of lottery winnings from other states • Veterans Administration benefits • Military compensation • Life insurance proceeds to the extent that they exceed the expenses incurred for the last illness and funeral of the deceased spouse or registered domestic partner of the claimant • Gifts and inheritances in excess of $300, except between members of the household • Alimony received • Amounts received from an estate or a trust • Unemployment insurance benefits • Workers’ compensation payments for temporary disability • Amounts contributed by or on behalf of the claimant to a tax-sheltered retirement or deferred compensation plan • Amounts received from an employer or any government body for loss of wages due to sickness or accident (sick leave payments) • Nontaxable gain from the sale of a residence • Scholarship and fellowship grants • The amount of the alternative minimum taxable income in excess of your regular taxable income, if you were required to pay the alternative maximum tax on your 2016 California income tax return Items not deductible from income: -Mortgage payments -Interest paid on loans -Utilities -Medical bills -Health premiums -Itemized deductions on form 1040

[X] The property shall be immediately revalued at fair market value by the assessor and placed on the assessment rolls in the year it was sold. Any owner entitled to the special assessment who is unable to occupy the homestead due to damage or destruction caused by a disaster or emergency declared by the governor shall be entitled to keep the special assessment level prior to its damage or destruction on the repaired or rebuilt homestead provided the repaired or rebuilt homestead is reoccupied by the owner within 5 years following the disaster. If the property owner receives a homestead exemption on another homestead during the same 5 year period, the damaged or destroyed property shall not be entitled to keep the special assessment level, and the land and buildings shall be assessed in that year at the percentage of fair market value. In addition, the owner must also maintain the homestead exemption to qualify for the special assessment level. Under certain conditions extensions of up to 2 additional years to the "return and reoccupy" provision may be granted and up to 3 one-year extension, after that.

[X] As used for this exemption, the term “permanently and totally disabled” means the inability to perform substantial gainful employment by reason of a medically determinable impairment, either physical or mental, that has lasted or is expected to last for a continuous period of 12 months or more, or result in death.

[X] The property may not be sold or transferred unless the taxes have been paid with interest. Upon the demise of the property owner, legal heirs have first priority to said property provided that they pay in full all back taxes and interest. If the heir is a surviving spouse, the spouse may enter into a tax deferral and recovery agreement with the board of assessors.

[X] The property may not receive an exemption both under this program and the exemption for persons with disabilities and limited income for the same municipal purpose. Application are filed in the assessor's office on or before the appropriate taxable status date, which for most towns is 1 March. The dates in Nassau and Westchester counties may vary and the date in cities is determined by the city's charter provisions. Applications must be filed annually. Effective 1 July 2017, in a city with a population of one million or greater, incomes cannot exceed $50,000, in accordance with 2017 NY Law Ch. 131 § 1.

[X] Gross household income is total household income plus all non-cash business expenses such as depreciation, amortization, depletion, and net operating losses. Total household income includes social security; interest/dividends; pensions/annuities; Supplemental Security Income (SSI); State Supplemental Program (SSP); Aid to the Totally Disabled (ATD); rental income/loss; gain/loss from sale of assets; wages, alimony, life insurance, unemployment insurance, worker's compensation for temporary disability, and public assistance and relief. In addition, participants may deduct the following amounts from their total household income: IRA contributions deduction, student loan interest deduction, medical Savings Account (MSA) deduction, moving expenses, and alimony paid from the total household income.

[X] Forms are issued by the county or local taxing authority.

[X] Homeowners are allowed to transfer the school district tax ceiling to a different home. The ceiling on the new home is calculated as the same percentage of taxes paid as the original home's tax ceiling. The ceiling may be adjusted upward for improvements that have increased the value of the property.

[X] Effective 1 July 2017 if a disabled veteran receives determination of disability in a retroactive period of eligibility the veteran, surviving unmarried spouse, or minor child is entitled to a refund of taxes paid during the period the veteran would have otherwise been exempt. The refund shall only be for three tax years preceding application for the homestead exemption. This was enacted by HB 196. The maximum exemption is based on the allowed amount under federal benefits for veterans 38 USC § 2102. According to Ga. Const. Art. VII, § II, Paragraph II (2), homestead exemptions levied by local taxing jurisdictions may be granted by local law conditioned upon approval by a majority of the qualified electors residing within the limits of the local taxing jurisdiction voting in a referendum thereon.

[X] Income increases due solely to Social Security cost-of-living adjustments will not disqualify claimants from receiving rebates. This provision expires on December 31, 2016. Effective 1 January 2017, Federal Veterans Disability Payments, and state veterans benefits including service-connected compensation or benefits of any kind provided to a veteran or an unmarried surviving spouse of a veteran by a state agency are not included when calculating income for this benefit. This program is also available to deceased PA residents, provided they lived at least 1 day in the year for which the benefit is applied. The benefit will be prorated by the number of days the applicant lived in the commonwealth. A surviving spouse, estate, or personal representative of the deceased resident may file on their behalf.

[X] The growth in the number of new applicants to the program annually is limited to a 5 percent increase over the prior year's new program participants. Taxes become payable upon: (a) the death of a claimant; (b) when the property is sold or no longer inhabited as a homestead (unless reasons of health prevent the owner from occupying the property as a homestead); or (c) when the qualifying disability ends. If income rises above the eligibility threshold, the amount of taxes for which the deferral is allowed shall decline by $0.50 for every $1.00 of income above the threshold. The deferral may be continued after the property is condemned by the Department of Transportation.

[X] All deferred taxes and interest are payable if: the taxpayer dies, or someone other than the taxpayer becomes the property’s owner, or the property is no longer occupied as the taxpayer’s primary residence, or the property is moved out of the State. In the latter-most case, all owed monies are due 5 days before moving. In all other instances, all owed monies are due within 45 days of the date of notice for payment. A municipality that has adopted the program under this section may discontinue it through the same procedure by which the program was adopted; however, any taxes deferred under the program continue to be deferred under the conditions of the program on the date it was ended. If an event requiring the the payment of deferred tax and interest occurs, and the ownership of the property is transferred to another member of the same property, the transferee may apply for continuation of the deferral of taxes only if that person is at least 70 years of age with an income not exceeding 300% of the federal poverty level.

[X] Income is defined as federal adjusted gross income, less deductions for certain medical and funeral expenses, business losses, early withdrawal penalties, and alimony. Income also includes social security and similar benefits, as well as most non-taxable income. The state tax commission shall file with the county recorder of the county in which the property is located a notice of lien for deferred property taxes. The lien for deferred taxes and interest shall not be a first and prior lien, but shall take its priority from the date and time of filing of the notice of lien. A deferral of property tax payments shall terminate on the earlier of: (a) voluntary payment of the full amount of deferred tax and interest to the state tax commission; (b) the death of the qualified claimant. In the case of more than one qualified claimant, the death of the last surviving qualified claimant; (c) a sale or other transfer of title to the property or any part of the property except a transfer of title to a surviving spouse of a deceased qualified claimant; (d) the property no longer qualifies for the exemption due to residential improvements; (e) a determination by the state tax commission that the deferral of property tax payments was erroneously granted to a person who is not a qualified claimant or in regard to property that is not qualified property. Application must be filed by the day taxes are due.

[X] Effective 1 July 2016 the state statutes were repealed. County ordinances remain in effect. In both Honolulu and Kauai Counties, low income is defined as 80% of the county's median household income and the exemption is in addition to the Basic and Multiple Home Exemptions and Additional Age Exemption. In Kauai County, the exemption is $120,000.

[X] The income thresholds for the program refer to the applicant's federal adjusted gross income. This program may be used in lieu of, not in addition to, any other homestead exemption for county tax purposes. The exemption does not apply to any municipal taxes or county school district taxes. An initial application must be filed with the county tax commissioner. The exemption shall be automatically renewed from year to year as long as the owner occupies the residence as a homestead. Any person granted this exemption must notify the tax commissioner in the event the person is no longer eligible for the exemption.

[X] Under the volunteer program, any benefits received are not considered income.

[X] The ordinance requires a taxpayer claiming the exemption to annually submit a sworn statement of household income prior, on a form prescribed by the Department of Revenue, to the property appraiser not later than March 1. The income limitation shall be adjusted annually on 01 January by the percentage change in the average cost-of-living index. A homestead damaged by misfortune or calamity that is uninhabitable on 01 January may qualify for the exemption if (a) the homeowner is otherwise qualified for a homestead exemption and (b) the homeowner intends to rebuild or repair the property within 3 years. Failure to rebuild or repair within 3 years constitutes an abandonment of the property as a homestead. The homeowner must have legal title or beneficial title in equity of the property, and they also must make a good faith effort to make the property their permanent residence. The homestead exemption does not extend to residents claiming permanent residence in other states.

[X] To remain eligible, the qualifying resident must reapply for the program every 3 years. The assessor shall review the owner's income qualifications using the owner's average total income during the previous 3 years. To be eligible for the property valuation protection, the resident shall make application and furnish documentation required by the assessor on or before 1 September. If the resident fails to file the application on or before 1 September, the assessor shall process the application for the subsequent year. When the owner sells the home or otherwise becomes ineligible for the program, the property's valuation will revert to its current full cash value.

[X] Effective 1 October, 2017 the maximum income level was increased to $25,000 from $21,000 for married and to $21,000 from $18,000 for single applicants. This was enacted in 2017 Conn. Pub. Acts no. 17-189. Applications for the statewide program must be turned in by October 1st. In any municipality that has an additional local exemption, the applicant must file an application with the county assessor before the date of the assessment

[X] Persons who are also eligible for the Local Option Disabled Exemption may choose the greater of the two, but may not take both exemptions. Income is calculated as the all receipts less life insurance paid for the death of an insured, business costs, and proceeds from the sale of assets. Must file for the benefit every year and must be eligible for the benefit as of April 1st of the filing year.

[X] Excess levies are those additional property tax levies above the limits that are approved by vote of the people. Local school districts have no regular levy authority (although they are allocated funds from the statewide school levy) so they receive a substantial portion of their funding from voter-approved excess levies. Excess levies must be authorized by a 60% majority of the voters, except for school levies which only require a simple majority, and such levies are not subject to any of the limitations. If the person subsequently fails to qualify only for one year because of high income, this same valuation must be used upon re-qualification. If the person fails to qualify for more than one year in succession because of high income or fails to qualify for any other reason, the valuation upon re-qualification is the assessed value on January 1st of the assessment year in which the person re-qualifies.

[X] To apply for the program, a claimant shall fill out the forms required by the Department. No claim with respect to property taxes or rent shall be allowed or paid unless the claim is actually filed on or before 15 April. The department may, upon request, grant for a period of not to exceed six months an extension of time for filing the claim.

[X] Property owners who participate in the work-off program are also eligible for other exemptions, deferrals, and abatements laid out under chapter 59 §5.