Rep. Durfee seeks to move homestead-declaration deadline from Oct. 15 to March 15

Rep. David Durfee, chair of the House Agriculture Committee, described a provision of bill H486 on Friday that would change the filing deadline for the annual homestead declaration.

"The deadline in statute right now to do that is October 15," Durfee said, and his proposal would move that date back to March 15 or another later date that falls after individual income taxes are due. Durfee said the change is intended to reduce cases in which homeowners who miss the October deadline lose homestead benefits and have no statutory remedy.

Under current law, Durfee said, taxpayers file a homestead declaration and a separate property tax bill form; the two forms have different due dates after a statutory change a few years ago. He said that creates a situation in some municipalities where a homeowner who misses the Oct. 15 homestead declaration deadline cannot recover the benefit, and the statute gives the tax commissioner only broad discretion rather than a clear remedy for affected taxpayers.

Durfee described common reasons taxpayers miss the declaration: moving from out of state and using out-of-state accountants, commercial tax-preparation software that may not file the form, and taxpayers who do not file income taxes on the usual schedule. He said he discussed the issue with the tax commissioner, who was "understanding" of complaints but noted that relief must be applied uniformly rather than on a case-by-case basis.

Representative Sluts, speaking in the discussion, echoed concerns from municipal clerks and tax officials that repeatedly changing or staggering deadlines creates administrative burden. "Their objection has been that when these things come out in dribs and drabs ... there's continuous rebuilding and paperwork back and forth that drives people nuts," Sluts said, and said the committee should work with tax officials to find a practical date.

Durfee said the committee previously explored whether filing the homestead declaration should be required every year if a homeowner’s status has not changed; he noted that statute briefly adopted that approach in the past but was later reversed and suggested the deputy commissioner Sam Roth could clarify that history.

The transcript does not record a committee vote on H486. Members asked questions about whether the change would apply only to new homeowners or to any resident claiming a property as a primary residence; Durfee said the requirement applies to any homeowner who occupies the property as a primary residence and that the declaration must be filed each year. No formal motion or amendment on H486 is recorded in the provided excerpt.

Durfee asked staff and interested members to coordinate with the tax department and local clerks to identify a workable date and to avoid imposing additional administrative burdens on municipalities.