Elderly Assistance Fund - Primary School District Tax Reduction

State

Arizona

Year

2017

Variations in Receipt of Benefit

Other Variation in Receipt of Benefits

Benefit Type

Other

Benefit

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. However, in Maricopa County, the program will persist until 2019 when the Elderly Assistance Fund balance is projected to be exhausted. 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.

How is Benefit Disbursed

Credit to the property tax bill

Eligible Property Type

Residential

Characteristics of Eligible Property

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.

Eligibility Criteria

Age

Homeowner

Income Ceiling

Principal Residence

Other Criteria

Description of Eligibility 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.

Local Option in Adoption of Program

Local government is unable to exercise an option

Local Option Regarding Program Features

No local option regarding program features

State Funding for Local Tax Loss

Local government covers all of its tax loss

Record ID

AZ102_RR17

Footnotes

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.

Sources

Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 42-17401; (in effect for 2017)
Source Constitution: 
A.R.S. Const. Art. IX, § 18 (7); A.R.S. Const. Art. IX, § 18 (9)
2015 Ariz. Session Laws. Ch. 324 § 1

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