THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 19, 1995 TAG: 9503190475
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
There has been a lot of talk about taxes in recent months. But one tax relief proposal has received little fanfare: the homestead exemption.
The North Carolina Senate has passed two bills regarding the homestead exemption which provides property tax relief to the low-income, elderly and disabled.
There are a number of elderly and disabled North Carolinians with little income and no personal wealth other than their home. Unfortunately, some of them are in jeopardy of losing their family homes due to escalating property taxes.
The North Carolina Senate has taken two important steps to help these citizens.
First, we passed a bill to raise the income eligibility from $11,000 to $15,000, and increase the exemption level from $15,000 to $20,000.
If this bill passes the House, it will result in meaningful property tax relief for 155,000 North Carolinians.
The second step involved granting more power to local government to further increase the exemption or income eligibility. There has been much discussion about the ability of a statewide law to help citizens in counties with widely differing property values. For example, if a home in one county is valued at $30,000, then a person eligible for the homestead exemption would be allowed to exempt $15,000 - or 50 percent of their home from property taxes. The very same home may be valued at $100,000 in another county, but the exemption would still only be $15,000 - a 15 percent property tax break. Enacting a local option would allow counties to address that disparity.
These steps are about helping people who have given much to our state over the years.
We should increase the homestead exemption in order to reduce the property tax burden on our senior and disabled citizens. It is the right thing to do.
Marc Basnight
President Pro Tem
North Carolina Senate
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