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TO AMEND SECTION 12-37-250, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION FROM PROPERTY TAX ON THE FIRST ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS OF FAIR-MARKET VALUE OF A RESIDENCE OWNED AND OCCUPIED AS A LEGAL RESIDENCE BY A PERSON WHO HAS ATTAINED THE AGE OF SIXTY-FIVE YEARS OR WHO IS TOTALLY AND PERMANENTLY DISABLED OR LEGALLY BLIND, SO AS TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT EXEMPTED TO ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS AND TO DELETE OBSOLETE PREMIUMS AND TO AMEND ACT 406 OF 2000, RELATING TO SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS, THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION, AND THE SOUTH CAROLINA SENIORS PRESCRIPTION DRUG PROGRAM ACT, SO AS TO DELETE LANGUAGE MADE OBSOLETE BY THE AMENDMENT TO SECTION 12-37-250 MADE BY THIS ACT.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The first paragraph of Section 12-37-250 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 18 of 2001, is further amended to read:
"The first fifty one hundred thousand dollars of the fair-market value of the dwelling place of a person is exempt from county, municipal, school, and special assessment real estate property taxes when the person has been a resident of this State for at least one year and has reached the age of sixty-five years on or before December thirty-first, the person has been classified as totally and permanently disabled by a state or federal agency having the function of classifying persons, or the person is legally blind as defined in Section 43-25-20, preceding the tax year in which the exemption is claimed and holds complete fee simple title or a life estate to the dwelling place. A person claiming to be totally and permanently disabled, but who has not been classified by one of the agencies, may apply to the State Agency of Vocational Rehabilitation. The agency shall make an evaluation of the person using its own standards. The exemption includes the dwelling place when jointly owned in complete fee simple or life estate by husband and wife, and either has reached sixty-five years of age, or is totally and permanently disabled, or legally blind under this section, before January first of the tax year in which the exemption is claimed, and either has been a resident of the State for one year. The exemption must not be granted for the tax year in which it is claimed unless the person or his agent makes written application for the exemption before July sixteenth of that tax year. If the person or his agent makes written application for the exemption after July fifteenth, the exemption must not be granted except for the succeeding tax year for a person qualifying under this section when the application is made. However, if application is made after July fifteenth of that tax year but before the first penalty date on property taxes for that tax year by a person qualifying under this section when the application is made, the taxes due for that tax year must be reduced to reflect the exemption provided in this section. The application for the exemption must be made to the auditor of the county and to the governing body of the municipality in which the dwelling place is located upon on forms provided by the county and municipality and approved by the Comptroller General, and a failure to apply constitutes a waiver of the exemption for that year. The auditor, as directed by the Comptroller General, shall notify the municipality of all applications for a homestead exemption within the municipality and the information necessary to calculate the amount of the exemption. 'Dwelling place' means the permanent home and legal residence of the applicant."
SECTION 2. Act 406 of 2000 is amended by deleting Section 1(B) that reads:
"(B) The exemption amount of the homestead exemption allowed pursuant to Section 12-37-250 of the 1976 Code is raised from twenty to fifty thousand dollars for property tax year 2000 and thereafter, to be funded as provided herein. The amount appropriated to the Trust Fund for Tax Relief must be used to reimburse counties, municipalities, school districts, and special purpose districts, as applicable, for this increased exemption amount in the manner provided in Section 12-37-270 of the 1976 Code."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies for property tax years beginning after 2002.
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