Older, low-income residents and disabled veterans can apply next year to have the entire amount of their county property tax bill refunded under changes approved Thursday by the Johnson County Commission.
Commissioners unanimously voted to continue a pilot program for 2025 that issues relief payments toward the part of their tax bill that goes toward the county taxing district. But they removed a $200 cap that is in place for the current year.
The portion of the tax bill to which this applies is for the county operations only and does not include individual levies for county parks, libraries or schools and city taxing districts.
Who qualifies for this tax relief?
Certain eligibility requirements must be met.
Applicants must be resident homeowners in Johnson County, be 65 or older or a disabled veteran and be at or below the very low income limits set by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, for example.
They also must be current on their property tax payments, with a home with a maximum 2023 appraised value of $384,600.
The commission authorized the existing tax relief program in 2023, using $500,000 in countywide support money that originated from federal COVID-19 relief funds. But with the $200 limit, the program was not widely used this year.
200+ residents qualified for the program this year
The county Department of Treasury, Taxation and Vehicles collected applications from Jan. 15 to April 15. The result was 207 successful applicants who received almost $41,200 in payments, said Greg Baldwin, the county’s chief deputy treasurer. Of those, 205 recipients received the maximum $200.
According to feedback the department received, the $200 payment was not enough of an incentive to apply, Baldwin said.
To boost participation, commissioners and staff discussed changing income limits, increasing the maximum appraisal value and other ideas, but settled on removing the $200 cap as the change that would have the most financial impact to a vulnerable population.
Next year, there will be about $458,800 left to fund the payments.
Baldwin said that without the cap, payments could increase to $105,815 next year. Based on the current year, the average county tax for eligible applicants was $511 and the maximum was $775.
More on the commission’s discussion
In discussions Thursday and during an agenda preview session a week ago, commissioners discussed the impact of the program.
Commissioner Becky Fast noted that with increasing property values in her northeastern district, meeting all the eligibility requirements has become more difficult.
Commissioner Janeé Hanzlick, a key advocate of the program, said the full reimbursement will have more of an impact for struggling residents, who will still owe all of their taxes for schools and cities unless they can also qualify for other relief programs offered by the state or cities.
“This is a lot less expensive way of keeping people in their homes than having to provide services when they are homeless or needing to go into nursing care,” she said.
Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara said the county portion of the tax bill is too high and the commissioners are being “hypocrites” for not cutting back more on spending.
Other commissioners pushed back on that, however. Commissioner Shirley Allenbrand said she was frustrated by that depiction, when the intent is to help people stay in their own homes.
Commissioner Michael Ashcraft voted for the measure this time, but said it will not provide a long-term solution once the funding runs out.
County officials distribute the funds after all the applications have been collected. If the demand is higher than the amount left in the fund, the issue comes back to the commissioner to establish a process to distribute the payments.
Go deeper: Here’s a link to more information about the county’s property tax relief programs.
