The Gilmer County Board of Assessors heard a plea from the son of an almost 90-year-old property owner concerning an over-65 homestead exemption as board members met last Thursday.
Rocky Miller, who accompanied and spoke for his mother, Lillian “Bobbie” Miller, said Lillian did not receive the school tax exemption for this year. Miller said his mother, who’ll turn 90 in three weeks, has lived at her Gartrell Street address since 2002.
Miller explained that the exemption had been under the name of Lillian’s husband, William, until he passed away last November.
Miller said his mother received a notification card in the mail, but, due to “age-related mental deficiency,” did not understand that she would have to apply for the exemption under her own name. By the time he found out and took her to do that, the April 1 deadline had passed.
“We feel that transfer should be automatic in this situation,” Miller told the assessor board. “You have a spouse who was residing at the property that already had the exemption in place.”
Chief Appraiser Theresa Gooch said the over-65 school tax exemption automatically came off after William’s passing because it follows the individual. Lillian will get the exemption for 2022, but did not for 2021 because the deadline was missed for this year, she noted.
Bill Logan, the assessor board’s vice chairman, said the board should take these kinds of situations on a case by case basis and motioned for the exemption to be granted.
“I understand what the state code says, but I also understand the extenuating circumstances,” Logan added.
Board member Jerry Davis said, with all due respect, the board does not recognize extenuating circumstances.
“The deadline was missed. If we grant this, every person in Gilmer County can come in and ask for something else,” he added.
The votes of four board members resulted in a two-two split with Logan and John Williamson voting to grant the exemption, and Davis and Tom Porter voting to deny. A third vote to deny came from board chairman Gary Engel, and the motion failed three-to-two.
“It makes me sick to say that. I think everyone here it makes us sick to do that, but we’ve got to treat everybody equal,” Engel said.
Miller thinks there should be an amendment to state law concerning elderly property owners and their understanding of tax exemptions.
He asked the board to consider such an amendment to ensure that elderly people get the tax breaks they’re entitled to, regardless of whether they’re mentally or physically capable of handling their own business.
“If I had not become aware of this and started handling my mother’s business, she still wouldn’t be signed up. It makes me wonder if this has happened to other widows,” Miller said.
In other news ...
Gooch said the assessors office received a total of 607 property appeals for this year.
“We have 172 30-day notices pending, and we still have 204 appeals to review. We have a total of 129 to BOE. We’ve resolved 41, and we’ve had 61 property owners waive their appeals,” she added.