County commissioner says tax relief deadlines must hold
By Steve Herring
Published in News on January 9, 2015 1:46 PM
Wayne County Commissioner Joe Daughtery recently questioned the need for deadlines for state tax relief programs if the county is not going to hold taxpayers to them.
Two programs, the Senior Citizen/Disability Homestead Exclusion and the Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exclusion, provide tax exemptions on property. The application period is from Jan. 1 until Jan. 31.
Two others, the Homestead Circuit Breaker Tax Deferment program and the Present Use Value Assessment for Agricultural, Horticultural and Forestlands program, defer taxes. Filing for those exemptions began Jan. 1 and continues through June 1.
Daughtery said commissioners are too often automatically approving late applications.
Qualifying applications filed on time are automatically approved in the county tax office. Late applications must go before commissioners for approval.
"This matter of allowing people to miss deadlines and automatically approving exemptions after the deadline -- I don't know why we have a deadline," Daughtery said. "We are going to have to start to take a hard look at enforcing the deadline. Or why have it?"
Commissioner Ray Mayo said that he would prefer the board leave the door open for approving late applications, but move them from the consent agenda to the regular agenda to allow for fuller discussion. There are special circumstances that might be beyond the control of people that result in the applications being late, he said. Mayo and Commissioner Chairman Wayne Aycock each said that situation had happened to them.
Commissioner John Bell asked Tax Administrator Alan Lumpkin if the county should send out letters with tax bills to let people know about the tax programs. That information is already on the back of tax bills, Lumpkin said.
Application forms for these programs and more information are available by calling the county Tax Department at 919-731-1461 or by downloading the forms from the county website, www.waynegov.com.
The Senior Citizen/Disability Homestead Exclusion program is open to North Carolina residents 55 or older, or who are totally and permanently disabled, and who own and occupy their own home.
All of the money an applicant receives during the year must total $28,100 or less, including all money received such as Social Security, VA benefits and interest income.
For married applicants residing with their spouse, the income of both must be included, even if only one owns the property.
If approved, the owner receives a minimum tax break of $25,000 or half the value of the home, whichever is more.
There are no age or income restrictions for the Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exclusion program. A one-time application is required.
If a person qualifies, a flat $45,000 is deducted from the value of the home, with the person paying tax on the difference of the balance. The house must be the person's permanent residence that they own and occupy.
To apply, the person must be a North Carolina resident and an honorably discharged, disabled veteran, who, as of Jan. 1, has a total and permanent service-connected disability or who receives benefits for specially adapted housing under a certain federal code.
Also eligible are the unmarried surviving spouses of honorably discharged disabled veterans.
A person must be a North Carolina resident, 65 years of age, or totally and permanently disabled to qualify for the Homestead Circuit Breaker Tax Deferment Program.
They must have owned and occupied the home as their permanent legal residence for five years and their income cannot exceed 150 percent of the income eligibility limit for the Elderly/Disabled Exclusion.
If the income is $28,100 or less, taxes are limited to 4 percent of their income. If their income is greater than $28,100, but not more than $42,150, taxes are limited to 5 percent of their income.
Calculated taxes that exceed the 4 percent or 5 percent limits are deferred taxes and are considered a lien on the property.
Also, interest accrues on deferred taxes as if they had been payable on the original due dates.
Payment of the deferred taxes can be triggered by the death of the owner unless ownership passes to a co-owner or spouse; transfer of the property unless the title passes to a co-owner, or to a spouse as a result of a divorce proceeding; or the owner ceases to use the property as a permanent residence.
If payment is triggered, the last three years of deferred taxes preceding the current tax year become due and payable.
The only exception is when the owner dies in which the deferred taxes become delinquent on the first day of the ninth month following the date of the owner's death.
Annual applications are required to verify annual income. The tax collector notifies each owner by Sept. 1 of each year of the accumulated sum of deferred taxes and interest.
People who own property that is being farmed or that is under a forestry management program may apply for the present use program. If approved, the property is taxed at what is called present use value, which is a lower taxing schedule than the market value schedule used by the county.
The tax difference between the market and present use values is a deferred tax and is in effect a lien on the property.
The taxes remains deferred until the use of the property is changed or a portion or all of the property is deeded to someone else -- even if that someone is a relative. If that happens, the prior three years of deferred taxes preceding the current tax year become due and payable, as does the current year's taxes. The new property owner must reapply and be approved for the program in order for the taxes to remain deferred.