Title
Ordinance to Amend the City Code of the City of Hampton, Virginia by Amending and Reenacting Chapter 37, "Taxation;" Article II, "Real Estate Taxes;" Division 6. “Deferral or Freeze for the Elderly and Disabled;” Section 37-123, “Grandfathering of Qualified Persons Under the Prior Tax Exemption Program”
Purpose
PURPOSE/BACKGROUND:
The purpose of this Resolution is to adjust the income limitations for persons grandfathered into the real estate tax exemption program to better align those limitations with rises in income that may be experienced by those qualifying individuals solely due to recent unusually large cost-of- living adjustments implemented by the Social Security Administration.
Discussion:
In May, 2014, as part of the fiscal year 2015 budget process, the then Council modified what was a real estate tax exemption program for the elderly and disabled to a deferral or freeze program due to the astronomical growth in the exemption program, but also enacted a grandfather clause that allowed those who previously qualified for the exemption program to stay in that program, subject to the income limitations and other conditions stated in the ordinance. Most (if not all) individuals in that exemption program live on fixed incomes, with social security being the primary source of that income. From 2014-2020, the average cost-of-living increase in social security benefit increases averaged 1.4%; however in recent years, those increases have been 5.9% (2021); 8.7% (2022); and 3.2% (2023). However, the reality is that those larger increases have no substantive impact on the quality of life of the individuals receiving those payments due to the progressively rising actual cost of living (e.g. cost of groceries, utilities, gas, etc.)
In 2014, there were 1,295 properties benefiting from the grandfather clause. That number has progressively decreased. Only 321 properties remained in that program for fiscal year 2024. The Commissioner of Revenue, ...
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