Glass City Jungle

Sometimes I think it would be helpful if when someone writes a letter to the editor there was some type of a way to put in an official response or to actually be able to share information. As an example, a letter in today’s Letters to the Editor states that the Lucas County Treasurer’s office has changed the way the Homestead Exemption is done. That’s not true..

The Ohio General Assembly changed the Ohio Homestead exemption during last year’s session, they stated they were extending eligibility because they eliminated the income requirement so that any senior citizen who will turn 65 during the year (even if they are not 65 at the time the tax bill is due) or is disabled qualifies. The letter also states that there was no notice and that there is no way to appeal, late filing is also possible under the way the law changed and you can even back file. There is also an appeal process according to the State if you feel your exemption was denied in error.

You do have to have an “ownership interest” according to the Lucas County Treasurer’s Office but the definition for ownership did not appear to change in H.B. 119, it’s the same as it was before:

An owner includes a holder of one of the several estates in fee, a vendee in possession under a purchase agreement or a land contract, a mortgagor, a life tenant, one or more tenants with a right of survivorship, tenants in common, and a settlor of a revocable inter vivos trust holding the title to a homestead occupied by the settlor as of right under the trust. The tax commissioner shall adopt rules for the uniform classification and valuation of real property or portions of real property as homesteads.

If the Ohio Tax Commissioner changed these rules for the uniform classification, which the question raised in this letter to the editor is raised:

5. I’m 65 but my spouse is younger than I am. Are we eligible for the homestead exemption?

If one of the principal owners of the property is 65 (or disabled) and the home is that person’s principal place of residence, the property is eligible for the Homestead Exemption. Ohio law anticipates many applicants may be in this situation, which is why an eligible owner’s surviving spouse may continue to receive the Homestead Exemption if the eligible spouse dies and the spouse is at least 59 on the date of death.

It would be the Ohio Tax Commissioner who was responsible for the change, not the Lucas County Treasurer’s office. It could also be a simple error, given that being a “mortgagor” is listed in the Bill that was passed, in doing some indepth searching, the Bill Analysis for HB 119 states:

Prior law

Under prior law, the homestead exemption was available for residences (including manufactured and mobile homes) owned and occupied by persons who are elderly or disabled and who have limited incomes. To be eligible for the homestead exemption, household income (after certain adjustments) had to be $27,000 or less, and the owner or the owner’s spouse had to be either (1) disabled, (2) at least 65 years of age, or (3) at least 60 years of age and the surviving spouse of a person who received the exemption at the time of death. The exemption was in the form of a reduction in the taxable value of the residence, which translates into a reduction in the tax bill. The extent of the reduction in taxable value depended on a person’s income, with greater reductions afforded to those with relatively lower incomes, as follows…

There is no mention of the change in the “owner or the owner’s spouse” qualification as being intended in the changes in the Homestead Exemption done by the General Assembly. When you look at the application that the State has online, it appears that even if the house is not in your name if you are on the mortgage and you provide documents that show this? You qualify for the Homestead Exemption.

Hopefully someone from the Lucas County Treasurer’s office will either see the letter in the Blade, or this post and see what if anything can be done for Mr. Mcgowan, and perhaps someday the Blade will add some type of editorial note in scenarios like this so if anyone experienced the same problem or has questions, they’d know where to turn. The online records in this scenario don’t indicate that there was a previous Homestead Exemption, but it’s not to late if there was an error done for it to be fixed…

This scenario also goes to show how easy it is for people to blame one office of Government rather than to be told or know exactly who is responsible for these types of decisions/changes. Which is one of the reasons why I decided to tackle this on the blog, just as the Mayor of the City would have no control over school dress codes, the Lucas County Treasurer’s office can’t write it’s own rules when it comes to things legislated by another branch of government, unless they give them the specific power to do so…