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H0426.......................................by ROBISON, SHEPHERD, STOICHEFF
PROPERTY TAX - CIRCUIT BREAKER RELIEF - Amends existing law regarding
circuit breaker property tax relief to reduce, over a five-year period, the
age for an eligible claimant to 62 years.
01/21 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
01/24 Rpt prt - to Rev/Tax
H0426
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-fifth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2000
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 426
BY ROBISON, SHEPHERD AND STOICHEFF
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO THE CIRCUIT BREAKER TAX RELIEF LAW; AMENDING SECTION 63-701, IDAHO
3 CODE, TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF "CLAIMANT"; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND
4 PROVIDING RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.
5 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
6 SECTION 1. That Section 63-701, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
7 amended to read as follows:
8 63-701. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter:
9 (1) "Claimant" means a person who has filed a claim under the provisions
10 of sections 63-701 through 63-710, Idaho Code. Except as provided in section
11 63-702(2), Idaho Code, on January 1 of the year in which the claim was filed a
12 claimant must be an owner of a homestead and be:
13 (a) Not less than sixty-five (65) years old during tax year 2000, not
14 less than sixty-four (64) years old during tax year 2001, not less than
15 sixty-three (63) years old during tax year 2003 and not less than sixty-
16 two (62) years old during tax year 2005 and thereafter; or
17 (b) A fatherless or motherless child under the age of eighteen (18) years
18 of age; or
19 (c) A widow or widower; or
20 (d) A disabled person who is recognized as disabled by the social secu-
21 rity administration pursuant to title 42 of the United States Code, or by
22 the railroad retirement board pursuant to title 45 of the United States
23 Code, or by the office of management and budget pursuant to title 5 of the
24 United States Code; or
25 (e) A disabled veteran of any war engaged in by the United States, whose
26 disability is recognized as a service-connected disability of a degree of
27 ten percent (10%) or more, or who has a pension for nonservice-connected
28 disabilities, in accordance with laws and regulations administered by the
29 United States veterans administration; or
30 (f) A person as specified in 42 USC 1701, who was or is entitled to
31 receive benefits because he is known to have been taken by a hostile force
32 as a prisoner, hostage or otherwise; or
33 (g) Blind.
34 (2) "Homestead" means the dwelling, owner-occupied by the claimant and
35 used as the primary dwelling place of the claimant and occupied by any members
36 of the household as their home, and so much of the land surrounding it, not
37 exceeding one (1) acre, as is reasonably necessary for the use of the dwelling
38 as a home. It may consist of a part of a multidwelling or multipurpose build-
39 ing and part of the land upon which it is built. Homestead does not include
40 personal property such as furniture, furnishings or appliances, but a manufac-
41 tured home may be a homestead.
42 (3) "Household" means the claimant and any person or persons who live in
43 the same dwelling, and share its furnishings, facilities, accommodations or
2
1 expenses. The term includes any person owing a duty of support to the appli-
2 cant pursuant to section 32-1002, Idaho Code, unless the person qualifies as a
3 "nonhousehold member" pursuant to subsection (6) of this section. The term
4 does not include bona fide lessees, tenants, or roomers and boarders on con-
5 tract. "Household" includes persons described in subsection (9)(b) of this
6 section.
7 (4) "Household income" means all income received by all persons of a
8 household in a calendar year while members of the household.
9 (5) "Income" means the sum of federal adjusted gross income as defined in
10 the internal revenue code, as defined in section 63-3004, Idaho Code, and to
11 the extent not already included in federal adjusted gross income, alimony,
12 support money, income from inheritances, nontaxable strike benefits, the non-
13 taxable amount of any individual retirement account, pension or annuity,
14 (including railroad retirement benefits, all payments received under the fed-
15 eral social security act, state unemployment insurance laws, and veterans dis-
16 ability pensions and compensation, excluding rollovers as provided in section
17 402 or 403 of the internal revenue code), nontaxable interest received from
18 the federal government or any of its instrumentalities or a state government
19 or any of its instrumentalities, worker's compensation and the gross amount of
20 loss of earnings insurance. It does not include capital gains, gifts from non-
21 governmental sources or inheritances. To the extent not reimbursed, cost of
22 medical care as defined in section 213(d) of the internal revenue code, incur-
23 red by the household may be deducted from income. "Income" does not include
24 veterans disability pensions received by a person described in subsection
25 (1)(e) who is a claimant or a claimant's spouse, provided however, that the
26 disability pension is received pursuant to a service-connected disability of a
27 degree of forty percent (40%) or more. Documentation of medical expenses may
28 be required by the county assessor, board of equalization and state tax com-
29 mission. "Income" shall be that received in the calendar year immediately pre-
30 ceding the year in which a claim is filed. Where a claimant does not file a
31 federal tax return the claimant's federal adjusted gross income, for purposes
32 of this section, shall be an income equivalent to federal adjusted gross
33 income had the claimant filed a federal tax return.
34 (6) "Nonhousehold member" means any nonspouse who lives in the claimant's
35 dwelling for the purpose of providing protective oversight, caregiving, or
36 personal care services to the claimant, or who is receiving disability bene-
37 fits pursuant to subsection (1)(d) or (e) of this section, or who is over age
38 sixty-five (65) and lives in the claimant's dwelling and receives protective
39 oversight, caregiving or personal care services provided by the claimant.
40 (7) "Occupied" means actual use and possession.
41 (8) "Owner" means a person holding title in fee simple or holding a cer-
42 tificate of motor vehicle title (either of which may be subject to mortgage,
43 deed of trust or other lien) or who has retained or been granted a life estate
44 or who is a person entitled to file a claim under section 63-702, Idaho Code.
45 "Owner" shall also include any person who as grantor created a revocable or
46 irrevocable trust and named himself as beneficiary of that trust, or who is a
47 partner of a limited partnership, member of a limited liability company or
48 shareholder of a corporation which holds title in fee simple or holds a cer-
49 tificate of motor vehicle title and who has retained or been granted a life
50 estate. "Owner" shall not include any person that otherwise occupies property
51 as beneficiary of a trust. "Owner" includes a vendee in possession under a
52 land sale contract. Any partial ownership shall be considered ownership for
53 determining qualification for property tax reduction benefits, however, the
54 amount of property tax reduction under section 63-704, Idaho Code, and rules
55 promulgated pursuant to section 63-705, Idaho Code, shall be computed on the
3
1 value of the claimant's partial ownership. "Partial ownership," for the pur-
2 poses of this section, means any one (1) person's ownership when property is
3 owned by more than one (1) person. The combined community property interests
4 of both spouses shall not be considered partial ownership. The proportional
5 reduction required under this subsection shall not apply to community prop-
6 erty interests. Where title to property is held by a person who has died with-
7 out timely filing a claim for property tax reduction, the estate shall be the
8 "owner."
9 (9) (a) "Primary dwelling place" means the claimant's dwelling place on
10 January 1 of the year for which the claim is made. The primary dwelling
11 place is the single place where a claimant has his true, fixed and perma-
12 nent home and principal establishment, and to which whenever the individ-
13 ual is absent he has the intention of returning. A claimant must establish
14 the dwelling to which the claim relates as his primary dwelling place by
15 clear and convincing evidence or by establishing that the dwelling is
16 where the claimant resided on January 1 and:
17 (i) At least six (6) months during the prior year; or
18 (ii) The majority of the time the claimant owned the dwelling if
19 owned by the claimant less than one (1) year; or
20 (iii) The majority of the time after the claimant first occupied the
21 dwelling if occupied by the claimant less than one (1) year.
22 (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection,
23 the property upon which the claimant makes application shall be deemed to
24 be the claimant's primary dwelling place if the claimant is otherwise
25 qualified and resides in a care facility and does not allow the property
26 upon which the claimant has made application to be occupied by persons
27 paying a consideration to occupy the dwelling. A claimant's spouse who
28 resides in a care facility shall be deemed to reside at the claimant's
29 primary dwelling place and to be a part of the claimant's household. A
30 care facility is a hospital, skilled nursing facility, intermediate care
31 facility or intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded as
32 defined in section 39-1301, Idaho Code, or a facility as defined in sec-
33 tion 39-3302(16), Idaho Code, or a dwelling other than the one (1) upon
34 which the applicant makes application where a claimant who is unable to
35 reside in the dwelling upon which the application is made lives and
36 receives help in daily living, protection and security.
37 SECTION 2. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby
38 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after its
39 passage and approval, and retroactively to January 1, 2000.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 09490CI
This legislation would, over a period of six years, extend
eligibility for the circuit breaker from age 65 to 62. It
would be available to people who are near retirement age and
who have annual household income of under $20,000. The idea
is to offset part of the taxes for schools for a larger number
of Idahoans who have limited income and are most in need of
such property tax relief. As of the year 2001 people would be
eligible at age 64, as of 2003 at age 63 and as of 2005 at age
62. Approximately 1,400 households would become eligible with
each one-year age adjustment.
FISCAL IMPACT
The cost to the general fund would be approximately $650,000 the
first year, an additional $650,000 in 2003 and an added $650,000
in 2005.
Contact:
Name: Rep. Robison, Shepherd, Stoicheff
Phone: 332-1000
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 426