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Changes needed for state's tax relief program for elderly and veterans

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) - 1/31/2015

Jan. 31--Trustees across Tennessee are hoping to provide Gov. Bill Haslam with options as his administration proposes changes to the state's Property Tax Relief Program for low-income seniors and disabled veterans.

The program allows seniors 65 and over with incomes of $28,270 or below to receive reductions on the first $25,000 of their property's appraised value.

Veterans who were disabled while in service get a break on the first $175,000 of their property's appraised value. And for them, there are no age or income limits.

However, Haslam's administration has proposed reducing the funds for the program from $33 million to $28 million, impacting 150,000 people statewide, including nearly 9,000 in Shelby County.

"We're trying to provide some guidance to the Legislature," Shelby County Trustee David Lenoir said.

Lenoir's "we" encompasses trustees from Anderson, Davidson, Hamilton and Rutherford counties, who have met to discuss recommendations to the Tennessee Legislature on modifying the program.

"If we have to live with the cut the governor has proposed, there will be about a 25 percent reduction in funding," said Metropolitan Nashville Trustee Charlie Cardwell.

In Davidson County, there are 5,840 program participants, including 404 vets. There, the average tax relief for seniors is $777 and $1,856 for veterans, Cardwell said.

"What we need the governor to do is fully fund the program because the veterans are deserving and the seniors are deserving," he said.

In Shelby County seniors can receive a maximum benefit of $273. If their tax bill were $500, the state would pay the remaining $227, Lenoir said.

Shelby County vets average $1,236 in tax relief.

Hamilton County Trustee Bill Hullander told the Chattanooga Times Free Press the average benefit there for seniors is $150 and $750 for vets.

"I appealed to the governor that we're maybe a little unique in Shelby County in the fact that on one hand we have the highest concentration of poverty in a community our size in the nation, combined that with we have the largest population of disabled veterans across the state," Lenoir said. "So here we are in this unfortunate perfect storm, we have these two enormous needs here in Shelby County. It's a challenge."

Also, since the programs creation, eligibility has been broadened, with the income limit for seniors raised and the inclusion of not just combat disabled veterans but those with service-related disabilities.

So, to continue the program more changes will be needed, like grandfathering in current participants while creating different eligibility requirements that may reduce income limits for the elderly and property values for the veterans.

"We're not the architects of the program," Lenoir said. "We were trying to give legislators direction in terms of some things to do."

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(c)2015 The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.)

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