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x <br />"Senior Circuit Breaker Property Tax Benefit" (affecting fiscal year 2009-10) <br />• Beginning January 1, 2009, property owners will have the opportunity to choose <br />which exemption/deferral program they would like to participate -Homestead <br />Exemption or Circuit Breaker <br />o Property owners cannot participate in both programs <br />• In accordance with the new legislation, property owners who qualify for <br />Homestead Exemption but choose to participate in the Circuit Breaker deferral <br />program can have only a portion of their tax bill deferred based on the following <br />formula <br />Tax bill minus (Income X .04) =Tax Bill Amount Deferred <br />• Maximum income for the Circuit Breaker qualification equals $25,000 (gross <br />income) -the maximum qualifying income for Homestead Exemption <br />o $25, 000 multiplied by .04 equals $1,000 <br />o Under this provision, the tax bill would not exceed $1,000 and the <br />difference between the actual tax bill and would be deferred. <br />o Taxpayers who qualify for Homestead Exemption in every way <br />except income, but their income does not exceed the maximum by <br />more than 150%, can elect to defer payment of a portion of their <br />property tax bill according to the following formula <br />Tax Bill minus (Income X .05) =Tax Bill Amount Deferred <br />Under this scenario, the maximum income could be $37,500. <br />^ $37,500 multiplied by .05 = $1,875 <br />^ Under this provision, the tax bill would not exceed $1,875 <br />and the difference would be deferred. <br />• This means that some homeowners could get decreases in their tax bills <br />that exceed the 50% exemption allowed under Homestead Exemption. <br />• The deferment period is three years meaning that there will never be more <br />than three years on the tax books. (After being in the Circuit Breaker <br />program for four years the first years deferred amount disappears, after <br />five years the first two years disappear, and after six years the first three <br />years disappear <br />• There will never be more than three years (plus interest) that could be <br />recouped by the County and other taxing authorities <br />