Update on property tax relief program

by Jeff Johnson Jr.

Here's an update on my earlier post on the Homestead Property Tax Relief program.

Applications for people who are not over 65 have been going out this first two weeks in July. Those who are over 65 should have received the application in May. That's for homeowners. For tenants, the application came with your state tax forms.

The filing deadline is August 15, 2008, for your 2007 Homestead Property Tax Relief, which is actually based on the amount of property tax that your home was assessed in 2006.

You got that?

The same filing deadline now apparently applies to all homeowners, young or old, disabled or not. Don't ask me whether the tenant deadline has moved. I can't figure that out.

My application had an ominous notice on it that "the state budget may affect rebate eligibility and amounts for 2007." So, kind of like the social security payroll tax that's withheld from my paycheck every two weeks, I'm not holding my breath that I'll ever see that money again.

Once again, the state plays the property tax shell game with its residents, giving them the psychological feeling of getting something when they're not only getting nothing, but in fact probably losing money on the deal to pay for the bureaucracy that has been in place to make state residents feel like they're getting something for the bureaucracy that they pay for.

You got that?