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S. B. No. 180 As IntroducedAs Introduced
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Brown, Kearney, Sawyer, Schiavoni, Turner
A BILL
To amend sections 323.151, 323.152, 323.153,
4503.064, 4503.065, and 4503.066 of the Revised
Code to extend eligibility for the homestead
exemption to elderly or disabled homeowners who
did not receive the exemption for 2013 and have
$30,000 or more in Ohio adjusted gross income.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 323.151, 323.152, 323.153, 4503.064,
4503.065, and 4503.066 of the Revised Code be amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 323.151. As used in sections 323.151 to 323.159 of the
Revised Code:
(A)(1) "Homestead" means either of the following:
(a) A dwelling, including a unit in a multiple-unit dwelling
and a manufactured home or mobile home taxed as real property
pursuant to division (B) of section 4503.06 of the Revised Code,
owned and occupied as a home by an individual whose domicile is in
this state and who has not acquired ownership from a person, other
than the individual's spouse, related by consanguinity or affinity
for the purpose of qualifying for the real property tax reduction
provided in section 323.152 of the Revised Code.
(b) A unit in a housing cooperative that is occupied as a
home, but not owned, by an individual whose domicile is in this
state.
(2) The homestead shall include so much of the land
surrounding it, not exceeding one acre, as is reasonably necessary
for the use of the dwelling or unit as a home. An owner includes a
holder of one of the several estates in fee, a vendee in
possession under a purchase agreement or a land contract, a
mortgagor, a life tenant, one or more tenants with a right of
survivorship, tenants in common, and a settlor of a revocable or
irrevocable inter vivos trust holding the title to a homestead
occupied by the settlor as of right under the trust. The tax
commissioner shall adopt rules for the uniform classification and
valuation of real property or portions of real property as
homesteads.
(B) "Sixty-five years of age or older" means a person who has
attained age sixty-four prior to the first day of January of the
year of application for reduction in real estate taxes.
(C) "Total income" means Ohio adjusted gross income of the
owner and the owner's spouse for the year preceding the year in
which application for a reduction in taxes is made, as determined
under division (A) of section 5747.01 of the Revised Code.
(D) "Permanently and totally disabled" means a person who
has, on the first day of January of the year of application for
reduction in real estate taxes, some impairment in body or mind
that makes the person unable to work at any substantially
remunerative employment that the person is reasonably able to
perform and that will, with reasonable probability, continue for
an indefinite period of at least twelve months without any present
indication of recovery therefrom or has been certified as
permanently and totally disabled by a state or federal agency
having the function of so classifying persons.
(E)(D) "Housing cooperative" means a housing complex of at
least two units that is owned and operated by a nonprofit
corporation that issues a share of the corporation's stock to an
individual, entitling the individual to live in a unit of the
complex, and collects a monthly maintenance fee from the
individual to maintain, operate, and pay the taxes of the complex.
Sec. 323.152. In addition to the reduction in taxes required
under section 319.302 of the Revised Code, taxes shall be reduced
as provided in divisions (A) and (B) of this section.
(A)(1) Division (A) of this section applies to any of the
following persons:
(a) A person who is permanently and totally disabled;
(b) A person who is sixty-five years of age or older;
(c) A person who is the surviving spouse of a deceased person
who was permanently and totally disabled or sixty-five years of
age or older and who applied and qualified for a reduction in
taxes under this division in the year of death, provided the
surviving spouse is at least fifty-nine but not sixty-five or more
years of age on the date the deceased spouse dies.
(2) Real property taxes on a homestead owned and occupied, or
a homestead in a housing cooperative occupied, by a person to whom
division (A) of this section applies shall be reduced for each
year for which an application for the reduction has been approved.
The reduction shall equal one of the following amounts, as
applicable to the person:
(a) If the person received a reduction under division (A) of
this section for tax year 2006, the greater of the reduction for
that tax year or the amount computed under division (A)(3)(2)(b)
of this section;
(b) If the person received a reduction under division (A) of
this section for tax year 2013 or under section 4503.066 of the
Revised Code for tax year 2014, the amount computed under division
(A)(3) of this section. For purposes of divisions (A)(2)(b) and
(c) of this section, a person receives a reduction under division
(A) of this section or under section 4503.065 of the Revised Code
for tax year 2013 or 2014, respectively, if the person files a
late application for that respective tax year that is approved by
the county auditor under section 323.153 or 4503.066 of the
Revised Code.
(c) If the person did not receive a reduction under division
(A) of this section or under section 4503.066 of the Revised Code
for tax year 2013 and the person's total income does not exceed
thirty thousand dollars, as adjusted under division (A)(4) of this
section, the amount computed under division (A)(3) of this
section.
(3) The amount of the reduction under division (A)(3) of this
section equals the product of the following:
(a)(i) Twenty-five thousand dollars of the true value of the
property in money;
(b)(ii) The assessment percentage established by the tax
commissioner under division (B) of section 5715.01 of the Revised
Code, not to exceed thirty-five per cent;
(c)(iii) The effective tax rate used to calculate the taxes
charged against the property for the current year, where
"effective tax rate" is defined as in section 323.08 of the
Revised Code;
(d)(iv) The quantity equal to one minus the sum of the
percentage reductions in taxes received by the property for the
current tax year under section 319.302 of the Revised Code and
division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code.
(4) Each calendar year, the tax commissioner shall adjust the
total income threshold described in division (A)(2)(c) of this
section by completing the following calculations in September of
each year:
(a) Determine the percentage increase in the gross domestic
product deflator determined by the bureau of economic analysis of
the United States department of commerce from the first day of
January of the preceding calendar year to the last day of December
of the preceding calendar year;
(b) Multiply that percentage increase by the total income
threshold for the current tax year;
(c) Add the resulting product to the total income threshold
for the current tax year;
(d) Round the resulting sum to the nearest multiple of one
hundred dollars.
The commissioner shall certify the amount resulting from the
adjustment to each county auditor not later than the first day of
December each year. The certified amount applies to the following
tax year for persons described in division (A)(2)(c) of this
section. The commissioner shall not make the adjustment in any
calendar year in which the amount resulting from the adjustment
would be less than the total income threshold for the current tax
year.
(B) To provide a partial exemption, real property taxes on
any homestead, and manufactured home taxes on any manufactured or
mobile home on which a manufactured home tax is assessed pursuant
to division (D)(2) of section 4503.06 of the Revised Code, shall
be reduced for each year for which an application for the
reduction has been approved. The amount of the reduction shall
equal two and one-half per cent of the amount of taxes to be
levied by qualifying levies on the homestead or the manufactured
or mobile home after applying section 319.301 of the Revised Code.
For the purposes of this division, "qualifying levy" has the same
meaning as in section 319.302 of the Revised Code.
(C) The reductions granted by this section do not apply to
special assessments or respread of assessments levied against the
homestead, and if there is a transfer of ownership subsequent to
the filing of an application for a reduction in taxes, such
reductions are not forfeited for such year by virtue of such
transfer.
(D) The reductions in taxable value referred to in this
section shall be applied solely as a factor for the purpose of
computing the reduction of taxes under this section and shall not
affect the total value of property in any subdivision or taxing
district as listed and assessed for taxation on the tax lists and
duplicates, or any direct or indirect limitations on indebtedness
of a subdivision or taxing district. If after application of
sections 5705.31 and 5705.32 of the Revised Code, including the
allocation of all levies within the ten-mill limitation to debt
charges to the extent therein provided, there would be
insufficient funds for payment of debt charges not provided for by
levies in excess of the ten-mill limitation, the reduction of
taxes provided for in sections 323.151 to 323.159 of the Revised
Code shall be proportionately adjusted to the extent necessary to
provide such funds from levies within the ten-mill limitation.
(E) No reduction shall be made on the taxes due on the
homestead of any person convicted of violating division (D) or (E)
of section 323.153 of the Revised Code for a period of three years
following the conviction.
Sec. 323.153. (A) To obtain a reduction in real property
taxes under division (A) or (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised
Code or in manufactured home taxes under division (B) of section
323.152 of the Revised Code, the owner shall file an application
with the county auditor of the county in which the owner's
homestead is located.
To obtain a reduction in real property taxes under division
(A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code, the occupant of a
homestead in a housing cooperative shall file an application with
the nonprofit corporation that owns and operates the housing
cooperative, in accordance with this paragraph. Not later than the
first day of March each year, the corporation shall obtain
applications from the county auditor's office and provide one to
each new occupant. Not later than the first day of May, any
occupant who may be eligible for a reduction in taxes under
division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code shall submit
the completed application to the corporation. Not later than the
fifteenth day of May, the corporation shall file all completed
applications, and the information required by division (B) of
section 323.159 of the Revised Code, with the county auditor of
the county in which the occupants' homesteads are located.
Continuing applications shall be furnished to an occupant in the
manner provided in division (C)(4) of this section.
(1) An application for reduction based upon a physical
disability shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by a
physician, and an application for reduction based upon a mental
disability shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by a
physician or psychologist licensed to practice in this state,
attesting to the fact that the applicant is permanently and
totally disabled. The certificate shall be in a form that the tax
commissioner requires and shall include the definition of
permanently and totally disabled as set forth in section 323.151
of the Revised Code. An application for reduction based upon a
disability certified as permanent and total by a state or federal
agency having the function of so classifying persons shall be
accompanied by a certificate from that agency.
An application for a reduction under division (A) of section
323.152 of the Revised Code constitutes a continuing application
for a reduction in taxes for each year in which the dwelling is
the applicant's homestead.
(2) An application for a reduction in taxes under division
(B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code shall be filed only if
the homestead or manufactured or mobile home was transferred in
the preceding year or did not qualify for and receive the
reduction in taxes under that division for the preceding tax year.
The application for homesteads transferred in the preceding year
shall be incorporated into any form used by the county auditor to
administer the tax law in respect to the conveyance of real
property pursuant to section 319.20 of the Revised Code or of used
manufactured homes or used mobile homes as defined in section
5739.0210 of the Revised Code. The owner of a manufactured or
mobile home who has elected under division (D)(4) of section
4503.06 of the Revised Code to be taxed under division (D)(2) of
that section for the ensuing year may file the application at the
time of making that election. The application shall contain a
statement that failure by the applicant to affirm on the
application that the dwelling on the property conveyed is the
applicant's homestead prohibits the owner from receiving the
reduction in taxes until a proper application is filed within the
period prescribed by division (A)(3) of this section. Such an
application constitutes a continuing application for a reduction
in taxes for each year in which the dwelling is the applicant's
homestead.
(3) Failure to receive a new application filed under division
(A)(1) or (2) or notification under division (C) of this section
after an application for reduction has been approved is
prima-facie evidence that the original applicant is entitled to
the reduction in taxes calculated on the basis of the information
contained in the original application. The original application
and any subsequent application, including any late application,
shall be in the form of a signed statement and shall be filed
after the first Monday in January and not later than the first
Monday in June. The original application and any subsequent
application for a reduction in real property taxes shall be filed
in the year for which the reduction is sought. The original
application and any subsequent application for a reduction in
manufactured home taxes shall be filed in the year preceding the
year for which the reduction is sought. The statement shall be on
a form, devised and supplied by the tax commissioner, which shall
require no more information than is necessary to establish the
applicant's eligibility for the reduction in taxes and the amount
of the reduction, and, except for homesteads that are units in a
housing cooperative, shall include an affirmation by the applicant
that ownership of the homestead was not acquired from a person,
other than the applicant's spouse, related to the owner by
consanguinity or affinity for the purpose of qualifying for the
real property or manufactured home tax reduction provided for in
division (A) or (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code. The
form shall contain a statement that conviction of willfully
falsifying information to obtain a reduction in taxes or failing
to comply with division (C) of this section results in the
revocation of the right to the reduction for a period of three
years. In the case of an application for a reduction in taxes for
persons described in division (A)(2)(c) of section 323.152 of the
Revised Code, the form shall contain a statement that signing the
application constitutes a delegation of authority by the applicant
to the tax commissioner or the county auditor, individually or in
consultation with each other, to examine any tax or financial
records relating to the income of the applicant as stated on the
application for the purpose of determining eligibility for the
exemption or a possible violation of division (D) or (E) of this
section.
(B) A late application for a tax reduction for the year
preceding the year in which an original application is filed, or
for a reduction in manufactured home taxes for the year in which
an original application is filed, may be filed with the original
application. If the county auditor determines the information
contained in the late application is correct, the auditor shall
determine the amount of the reduction in taxes to which the
applicant would have been entitled for the preceding tax year had
the applicant's application been timely filed and approved in that
year.
The amount of such reduction shall be treated by the auditor
as an overpayment of taxes by the applicant and shall be refunded
in the manner prescribed in section 5715.22 of the Revised Code
for making refunds of overpayments. On the first day of July of
each year, the county auditor shall certify the total amount of
the reductions in taxes made in the current year under this
division to the tax commissioner, who shall treat the full amount
thereof as a reduction in taxes for the preceding tax year and
shall make reimbursement to the county therefor in the manner
prescribed by section 323.156 of the Revised Code, from money
appropriated for that purpose.
(C)(1) If, in any year after an application has been filed
under division (A)(1) or (2) of this section, the owner does not
qualify for a reduction in taxes on the homestead or on the
manufactured or mobile home set forth on such application, the
owner shall notify the county auditor that the owner is not
qualified for a reduction in taxes.
(2) If, in any year after an application has been filed under
division (A)(1) of this section, the occupant of a homestead in a
housing cooperative does not qualify for a reduction in taxes on
the homestead, the occupant shall notify the county auditor that
the occupant is not qualified for a reduction in taxes or file a
new application under division (A)(1) of this section.
(3) If the county auditor or county treasurer discovers that
the owner of property not entitled to the reduction in taxes under
division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code failed to
notify the county auditor as required by division (C)(1) of this
section, a charge shall be imposed against the property in the
amount by which taxes were reduced under that division for each
tax year the county auditor ascertains that the property was not
entitled to the reduction and was owned by the current owner.
Interest shall accrue in the manner prescribed by division (B) of
section 323.121 or division (G)(2) of section 4503.06 of the
Revised Code on the amount by which taxes were reduced for each
such tax year as if the reduction became delinquent taxes at the
close of the last day the second installment of taxes for that tax
year could be paid without penalty. The county auditor shall
notify the owner, by ordinary mail, of the charge, of the owner's
right to appeal the charge, and of the manner in which the owner
may appeal. The owner may appeal the imposition of the charge and
interest by filing an appeal with the county board of revision not
later than the last day prescribed for payment of real and public
utility property taxes under section 323.12 of the Revised Code
following receipt of the notice and occurring at least ninety days
after receipt of the notice. The appeal shall be treated in the
same manner as a complaint relating to the valuation or assessment
of real property under Chapter 5715. of the Revised Code. The
charge and any interest shall be collected as other delinquent
taxes.
(4) Each year during January, the county auditor shall
furnish by ordinary mail a continuing application to each person
receiving a reduction under division (A) of section 323.152 of the
Revised Code. The continuing application shall be used to report
changes in total income, ownership, occupancy, disability, and
other information earlier furnished the auditor relative to the
reduction in taxes on the property. The continuing application
shall be returned to the auditor not later than the first Monday
in June; provided, that if such changes do not affect the status
of the homestead exemption or the amount of the reduction to which
the owner is entitled under division (A) of section 323.152 of the
Revised Code or to which the occupant is entitled under section
323.159 of the Revised Code, the application does not need to be
returned.
(5) Each year during February, the county auditor, except as
otherwise provided in this paragraph, shall furnish by ordinary
mail an original application to the owner, as of the first day of
January of that year, of a homestead or a manufactured or mobile
home that transferred during the preceding calendar year and that
qualified for and received a reduction in taxes under division (B)
of section 323.152 of the Revised Code for the preceding tax year.
In order to receive the reduction under that division, the owner
shall file the application with the county auditor not later than
the first Monday in June. If the application is not timely filed,
the auditor shall not grant a reduction in taxes for the homestead
for the current year, and shall notify the owner that the
reduction in taxes has not been granted, in the same manner
prescribed under section 323.154 of the Revised Code for
notification of denial of an application. Failure of an owner to
receive an application does not excuse the failure of the owner to
file an original application. The county auditor is not required
to furnish an application under this paragraph for any homestead
for which application has previously been made on a form
incorporated into any form used by the county auditor to
administer the tax law in respect to the conveyance of real
property or of used manufactured homes or used mobile homes, and
an owner who previously has applied on such a form is not required
to return an application furnished under this paragraph.
(D) No person shall knowingly make a false statement for the
purpose of obtaining a reduction in the person's real property or
manufactured home taxes under section 323.152 of the Revised Code.
(E) No person shall knowingly fail to notify the county
auditor of changes required by division (C) of this section that
have the effect of maintaining or securing a reduction in taxes
under section 323.152 of the Revised Code.
(F) No person shall knowingly make a false statement or
certification attesting to any person's physical or mental
condition for purposes of qualifying such person for tax relief
pursuant to sections 323.151 to 323.159 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4503.064. As used in sections 4503.064 to 4503.069 of
the Revised Code:
(A) "Sixty-five years of age or older" means a person who
will be age sixty-five or older in the calendar year following the
year of application for reduction in the assessable value of the
person's manufactured or mobile home.
(B) "Permanently and totally disabled" means a person who, on
the first day of January of the year of application, including
late application, for reduction in the assessable value of a
manufactured or mobile home, has some impairment in body or mind
that makes the person unable to work at any substantially
remunerative employment which the person is reasonably able to
perform and which will, with reasonable probability, continue for
an indefinite period of at least twelve months without any present
indication of recovery therefrom or has been certified as
permanently and totally disabled by a state or federal agency
having the function of so classifying persons.
(C) "Homestead exemption" means the reduction in taxes
allowed under division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code
for the year in which an application is filed under section
4503.066 of the Revised Code.
(D) "Manufactured home" has the meaning given in division
(C)(4) of section 3781.06 of the Revised Code, and includes a
structure consisting of two manufactured homes that were purchased
either together or separately and are combined to form a single
dwelling, but does not include a manufactured home that is taxed
as real property pursuant to division (B) of section 4503.06 of
the Revised Code.
(E) "Mobile home" has the meaning given in division (O) of
section 4501.01 of the Revised Code and includes a structure
consisting of two mobile homes that were purchased together or
separately and combined to form a single dwelling, but does not
include a mobile home that is taxed as real property pursuant to
division (B) of section 4503.06 of the Revised Code.
(F) "Late application" means an application filed with an
original application under division (A)(3) of section 4503.066 of
the Revised Code.
(G) "Total income" has the same meaning as in section 323.151
of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4503.065. (A) This section applies to any of the
following persons:
(1) An individual who is permanently and totally disabled;
(2) An individual who is sixty-five years of age or older;
(3) An individual who is the surviving spouse of a deceased
person who was permanently and totally disabled or sixty-five
years of age or older and who applied and qualified for a
reduction in assessable value under this section in the year of
death, provided the surviving spouse is at least fifty-nine but
not sixty-five or more years of age on the date the deceased
spouse dies.
(B) The manufactured home tax on a manufactured or mobile
home that is paid pursuant to division (C) of section 4503.06 of
the Revised Code and that is owned and occupied as a home by an
individual whose domicile is in this state and to whom this
section applies, shall be reduced for any tax year for which an
application for such reduction has been approved, provided the
individual did not acquire ownership from a person, other than the
individual's spouse, related by consanguinity or affinity for the
purpose of qualifying for the reduction. An owner includes a
settlor of a revocable or irrevocable inter vivos trust holding
the title to a manufactured or mobile home occupied by the settlor
as of right under the trust.
(1) For manufactured and mobile homes for which the tax
imposed by section 4503.06 of the Revised Code is computed under
division (D)(2) of that section, the reduction shall equal one of
the following amounts, as applicable to the person:
(a) If the person received a reduction under this section for
tax year 2007, the greater of the reduction for that tax year or
the amount computed under division (B)(2)(1)(b) of this section;
(b) If the person received a reduction under this section for
tax year 2014 or under division (A) of section 323.152 of the
Revised Code for tax year 2013, the amount computed under division
(B)(2) of this section. For purposes of divisions (B)(1)(b) and
(c) of this section, a person receives a reduction under this
section or division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code for
tax year 2014 or 2013, respectively, if the person files a late
application for that respective tax year that is approved by the
county auditor under section 4503.066 or 323.153 of the Revised
Code.
(c) If the person did not receive a reduction under this
section for tax year 2014 or under division (A) of section 323.152
of the Revised Code for tax year 2013 and the person's total
income does not exceed thirty thousand dollars, as adjusted under
division (B)(5) of this section, the amount computed under
division (B)(2) of this section.
(2) The amount of the reduction under division (B)(2) of this
section equals the product of the following:
(a)(i) Twenty-five thousand dollars of the true value of the
property in money;
(b)(ii) The assessment percentage established by the tax
commissioner under division (B) of section 5715.01 of the Revised
Code, not to exceed thirty-five per cent;
(c)(iii) The effective tax rate used to calculate the taxes
charged against the property for the current year, where
"effective tax rate" is defined as in section 323.08 of the
Revised Code;
(d)(iv) The quantity equal to one minus the sum of the
percentage reductions in taxes received by the property for the
current tax year under section 319.302 of the Revised Code and
division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code.
(3)(2) For manufactured and mobile homes for which the tax
imposed by section 4503.06 of the Revised Code is computed under
division (D)(1) of that section, the reduction shall equal one of
the following amounts, as applicable to the person:
(a) If the person received a reduction under this section for
tax year 2007, the greater of the reduction for that tax year or
the amount computed under division (B)(4)(2)(b) of this section;
(b) If the person received a reduction under this section for
tax year 2014 or under division (A) of section 323.152 of the
Revised Code for tax year 2013, the amount computed under division
(B)(4) of this section. For purposes of divisions (B)(3)(b) and
(c) of this section, a person receives a reduction under this
section or under division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised
Code for tax year 2014 or 2013, respectively, if the person files
a late application for a refund of overpayments for that
respective tax year that is approved by the county auditor under
section 4503.066 of the Revised Code.
(c) If the person did not receive a reduction under this
section for tax year 2014 or under division (A) of section 323.152
of the Revised Code for tax year 2013 and the person's total
income does not exceed thirty thousand dollars, as adjusted under
division (B)(5) of this section, the amount computed under
division (B)(4) of this section.
(4) The amount of the reduction under division (B)(4) of this
section equals the product of the following:
(a)(i) Twenty-five thousand dollars of the cost to the owner,
or the market value at the time of purchase, whichever is greater,
as those terms are used in division (D)(1) of section 4503.06 of
the Revised Code;
(b)(ii) The percentage from the appropriate schedule in
division (D)(1)(b) of section 4503.06 of the Revised Code;
(c)(iii) The assessment percentage of forty per cent used in
division (D)(1)(b) of section 4503.06 of the Revised Code;
(d)(iv) The tax rate of the taxing district in which the home
has its situs.
(5) Each calendar year, the tax commissioner shall adjust the
income threshold described in divisions (B)(1)(c) and (B)(3)(c) of
this section by completing the following calculations in September
of each year:
(a) Determine the percentage increase in the gross domestic
product deflator determined by the bureau of economic analysis of
the United States department of commerce from the first day of
January of the preceding calendar year to the last day of December
of the preceding calendar year;
(b) Multiply that percentage increase by the total income
threshold for the ensuing tax year;
(c) Add the resulting product to the total income threshold
for the ensuing tax year;
(d) Round the resulting sum to the nearest multiple of one
hundred dollars.
The commissioner shall certify the amount resulting from the
adjustment to each county auditor not later than the first day of
December each year. The certified amount applies to the second
ensuing tax year. The commissioner shall not make the adjustment
in any calendar year in which the amount resulting from the
adjustment would be less than the total income threshold for the
ensuing tax year.
(C) If the owner or the spouse of the owner of a manufactured
or mobile home is eligible for a homestead exemption on the land
upon which the home is located, the reduction to which the owner
or spouse is entitled under this section shall not exceed the
difference between the reduction to which the owner or spouse is
entitled under division (B) of this section and the amount of the
reduction under the homestead exemption.
(D) No reduction shall be made with respect to the home of
any person convicted of violating division (C) or (D) of section
4503.066 of the Revised Code for a period of three years following
the conviction.
Sec. 4503.066. (A)(1) To obtain a tax reduction under
section 4503.065 of the Revised Code, the owner of the home shall
file an application with the county auditor of the county in which
the home is located. An application for reduction in taxes based
upon a physical disability shall be accompanied by a certificate
signed by a physician, and an application for reduction in taxes
based upon a mental disability shall be accompanied by a
certificate signed by a physician or psychologist licensed to
practice in this state. The certificate shall attest to the fact
that the applicant is permanently and totally disabled, shall be
in a form that the department of taxation requires, and shall
include the definition of totally and permanently disabled as set
forth in section 4503.064 of the Revised Code. An application for
reduction in taxes based upon a disability certified as permanent
and total by a state or federal agency having the function of so
classifying persons shall be accompanied by a certificate from
that agency.
(2) Each application shall constitute a continuing
application for a reduction in taxes for each year in which the
manufactured or mobile home is occupied by the applicant. Failure
to receive a new application or notification under division (B) of
this section after an application for reduction has been approved
is prima-facie evidence that the original applicant is entitled to
the reduction calculated on the basis of the information contained
in the original application. The original application and any
subsequent application shall be in the form of a signed statement
and shall be filed not later than the first Monday in June. The
statement shall be on a form, devised and supplied by the tax
commissioner, that shall require no more information than is
necessary to establish the applicant's eligibility for the
reduction in taxes and the amount of the reduction to which the
applicant is entitled. The form shall contain a statement that
signing such application constitutes a delegation of authority by
the applicant to the tax commissioner or the county auditor,
individually or in consultation with each other, to examine any
tax or financial records that relate to the income of the
applicant as stated on the application for the purpose of
determining eligibility under, or possible violation of, division
(C) or (D) of this section. The form also shall contain a
statement that conviction of willfully falsifying information to
obtain a reduction in taxes or failing to comply with division (B)
of this section shall result in the revocation of the right to the
reduction for a period of three years.
(3) A late application for a reduction in taxes for the year
preceding the year for which an original application is filed may
be filed with an original application. If the auditor determines
that the information contained in the late application is correct,
the auditor shall determine both the amount of the reduction in
taxes to which the applicant would have been entitled for the
current tax year had the application been timely filed and
approved in the preceding year, and the amount the taxes levied
under section 4503.06 of the Revised Code for the current year
would have been reduced as a result of the reduction. When an
applicant is permanently and totally disabled on the first day of
January of the year in which the applicant files a late
application, the auditor, in making the determination of the
amounts of the reduction in taxes under division (A)(3) of this
section, is not required to determine that the applicant was
permanently and totally disabled on the first day of January of
the preceding year.
The amount of the reduction in taxes pursuant to a late
application shall be treated as an overpayment of taxes by the
applicant. The auditor shall credit the amount of the overpayment
against the amount of the taxes or penalties then due from the
applicant, and, at the next succeeding settlement, the amount of
the credit shall be deducted from the amount of any taxes or
penalties distributable to the county or any taxing unit in the
county that has received the benefit of the taxes or penalties
previously overpaid, in proportion to the benefits previously
received. If, after the credit has been made, there remains a
balance of the overpayment, or if there are no taxes or penalties
due from the applicant, the auditor shall refund that balance to
the applicant by a warrant drawn on the county treasurer in favor
of the applicant. The treasurer shall pay the warrant from the
general fund of the county. If there is insufficient money in the
general fund to make the payment, the treasurer shall pay the
warrant out of any undivided manufactured or mobile home taxes
subsequently received by the treasurer for distribution to the
county or taxing district in the county that received the benefit
of the overpaid taxes, in proportion to the benefits previously
received, and the amount paid from the undivided funds shall be
deducted from the money otherwise distributable to the county or
taxing district in the county at the next or any succeeding
distribution. At the next or any succeeding distribution after
making the refund, the treasurer shall reimburse the general fund
for any payment made from that fund by deducting the amount of
that payment from the money distributable to the county or other
taxing unit in the county that has received the benefit of the
taxes, in proportion to the benefits previously received. On the
second Monday in September of each year, the county auditor shall
certify the total amount of the reductions in taxes made in the
current year under division (A)(3) of this section to the tax
commissioner who shall treat that amount as a reduction in taxes
for the current tax year and shall make reimbursement to the
county of that amount in the manner prescribed in section 4503.068
of the Revised Code, from moneys appropriated for that purpose.
(B) If in any year for which an application for reduction in
taxes has been approved the owner no longer qualifies for the
reduction, the owner shall notify the county auditor that the
owner is not qualified for a reduction in taxes.
During January of each year, the county auditor shall furnish
each person whose application for reduction has been approved, by
ordinary mail, a form on which to report any changes in total
income, ownership, occupancy, disability, and other information
earlier furnished the auditor relative to the application. The
form shall be completed and returned to the auditor not later than
the first Monday in June if the changes would affect the person's
eligibility for the reduction.
(C) No person shall knowingly make a false statement for the
purpose of obtaining a reduction in taxes under section 4503.065
of the Revised Code.
(D) No person shall knowingly fail to notify the county
auditor of any change required by division (B) of this section
that has the effect of maintaining or securing a reduction in
taxes under section 4503.065 of the Revised Code.
(E) No person shall knowingly make a false statement or
certification attesting to any person's physical or mental
condition for purposes of qualifying such person for tax relief
pursuant to sections 4503.064 to 4503.069 of the Revised Code.
(F) Whoever violates division (C), (D), or (E) of this
section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
Section 2. That existing sections 323.151, 323.152, 323.153,
4503.064, 4503.065, and 4503.066 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.
Section 3. The amendment by this act of sections 323.151,
323.152, 323.153, 4503.064, 4503.065, and 4503.066 of the Revised
Code applies to all property taxes charged and payable after
January 1, 2013.
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