Decatur’s school board approved a resolution last week seeking a homestead exemption for residents 65 and older, meaning they wouldn’t pay the school ad valorem tax on their homes.
Vice Chair Garrett Goebel said that by his calculations, seniors would save $993 per $100,000 house.
The resolution includes a five-year sunset provision. This would allow, board members claim, CSD to revise the exemption after five years, including the possibility of adding income restrictions. All four members present insisted the provision doesn’t mean the exemption will end after five years.
The exemptions are aimed at seniors on fixed incomes. As Chair Annie Caiola said recently, “We don’t want (Decatur becoming) a haven for (wealthier) seniors moving in to take advantage of the tax break.”
It’s currently unclear how much the exemptions will cost non-seniors.
“We will (because of the exemptions) lose a million dollars in tax revenue,” Caiola said. “If the growth in the tax digest (it increased 20 percent last year) doesn’t make up for (the exemption) we may have to raise the millage (currently 18.66 mills). So it is possible this exemption may cost (non senior) tax payers more.”
There’s no date for when legislators, scheduled to adjourn March 24, will vote on the homestead exemption.
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