Allegany County legislators weigh raising senior exemption, consider opting into 100% disabled veterans exemption

County officials on the Allegany County Ways & Means Committee on June 17 reviewed possible changes to two real property tax exemptions that could affect homeowners and veterans.

County Attorney Allison Carrow outlined how the senior citizens' exemption under Section 467 of the Real Property Tax Law works, saying the exemption applies when a qualifying owner aged 65 or older uses the property as their primary residence and that local governments may set maximum income limits and a sliding-scale schedule (Allegany County currently uses a sliding scale). She noted the county can set income thresholds but must follow state eligibility rules.

Director of Real Property Tax Service Joseph Budinger told the committee the county's current sliding-scale maximum is $19,500 and presented packet scenarios showing what the numbers would look like if the cap were raised to $40,000. Budinger said the average savings for someone receiving a senior exemption is about $36,000 and estimated — as a rough guess — that each $500 increase in the cap might make roughly 10 more households eligible and shift about $300,000 in assessed value, a figure he described as tentative. Legislators asked whether life-use transfers or changes in title would affect eligibility and whether the state or county would police primary-residence requirements; Budinger said the state makes residency determinations.

The committee also reviewed a recently enacted amendment to Section 458 of the Real Property Tax Law that adds subsection 11 to allow counties to opt in to a tax exemption for veterans rated 100% permanent and total disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Carrow said the exemption requires an honorable discharge and the VA rating or individual unemployability determination; she warned the exemption is optional for counties, is not available to towns and villages, and that the applicability to school districts had not yet been clarified.

Budinger told the committee Allegany County currently has 206 parcels receiving the county's existing veterans exemption (the county cap for the state-provided 50% exemption has been $20,000); under the county's calculations, exempt assessment for those parcels is roughly $6 million now and would increase to about $25 million if the county opted in to the full 100% exemption. Legislator Burdick suggested moving forward with both a senior-exemption increase and a review of the veterans exemption; Chairman Philip Stockin requested a one-page summary of the numbers for the committee to review at a future meeting.

Several legislators, including Board Chairman W. Brooke Harris and Legislator D. Healy, acknowledged sympathy for raising exemptions for seniors, veterans and volunteers but emphasized the county's constrained budget and the need to show concrete fiscal impact before changing policy. The committee did not adopt any change at the June 17 meeting; County Attorney Carrow and staff agreed to prepare a summary of the options and projected assessment shifts for the committee's next meeting.