Richard Moore wants more seniors to qualify for property tax homestead exclusion.
Moore said he wants to double the income limit from $25,000 to $50,000 for those wishing to qualify for the property tax exclusion. According to his campaign, this would cut about 100,000 seniors citizens' tax bill in half.
He has also proposed freezing property values for residents over 65 who have lived in the same house for more than 20 years and those that have an income less than $50,000 a year.
The homestead exclusion currently reduces the value of qualifying residents' homes by $25,000 or 50 percent, depending which is greater. Moore says raising the income limit would open the option to 200,000 additional senior households in the state.
The income limit rose to $25,000 from $20,500 at the beginning of 2008.
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Re: Moore on seniors' taxes
It's nice that the Treasurer wants to give a tax break for seniors that will cost the local governments, which will in turn cause everybody - including seniors - to pay more property taxes. Remember, there is no state property tax, so the Treasurer is basically touting a tax cut that won't cost the state any revenue but will make all the cities and counties lose revenues and cut services or raise taxes to make up for the lost revenues.