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1 <br />ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: December 7, 1999 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. <br />SUBJECT: Late Applications for Property Homestead Exemption <br />DEPARTMENT: Assessor's Office PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />John Smith, ext 2101 <br />Exempt Status Resolution <br />TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br />Hillsborough 732 -8181 <br />Chapel Hill 968 -4501 <br />Durham 688 -7331 <br />Mebane 336- 227 -2031 <br />PURPOSE: To consider four late applications for granting homestead exemptions for the 1999 <br />tax year. <br />BACKGROUND: North Carolina law provides for the exclusion of a portion of the value of <br />certain real and personal property from taxation, provided that the owner meets certain income <br />and age provisions. NCGS 105- 277.1 excludes from property taxes the first $20,000 in <br />assessed value of certain property owned by N.C. residents aged 65 or older or totally and <br />permanently disabled whose disposable income does not exceed $15,000. This exclusion <br />covers real property or mobile homes occupied by the owner as his or her permanent <br />residence. Applications for this "homestead exemption must be filed prior to April 151 in the tax <br />year for which relief is sought. <br />Four citizens (Long Bach, Marvin Crawford, Julie Wade, and Lawrence Swann) filed <br />applications for homestead exemption after April 15, 1999. NCGS 105- 282.1(a)(5) does allow <br />some discretion for untimely applications for homestead exemption. Upon a showing of good <br />cause by the applicant for failure to make a timely application, an application for exemption or <br />exclusion filed after the close of the listing period may be approved by the Department of <br />Revenue, the board of equalization and review, the board of county commissioners, or the <br />governing body of a municipality, as appropriate. An untimely application for exemption or. <br />exclusion approved under this subdivision applies only to property taxes levied by the county or <br />municipality in the calendar year in which the untimely application is filed. <br />The four applications noted can be approved for 1999 based on the above referenced general <br />statutes. The opinion of the Assessor is that the above referenced applicants meet all eligibility <br />requirements and the letters provided by each satisfies the "good cause" requirement of NCGS <br />105- 282.1(a)(5). <br />