Mayor Signs Bill Nixing Property Taxes For Certain Seniors

• March 25, 2014
• 3 Comments

by UrbanTurf Staff

On Tuesday, Mayor Gray signed a bill that will exempt certain DC homeowners aged 70 and older from paying property taxes. Only those senior citizens who have lived in the city for 20 consecutive years and have an annual income of $60,000 or less will be eligible. The final bill was also amended to state that an individual cannot receive more than $12,500 in household interest and dividend income on their personal income tax.

The legislation, authored by Councilmember Anita Bonds, was passed by the DC Council earlier this month after being amended since its first reading to include a provision ensuring that wealthier city residents would not be able to claim the benefit.

“When I first became Mayor, I made a commitment to ensuring that our senior residents remain an integral part of the economic development and growth of our city – and this legislation helps us achieve that goal,” Mayor Gray said in a statement. “My budgets and my administration’s policies will continue to place a priority on ensuring that our seniors have the option of aging in the place they have called home for decades, even as we continually attract new residents to our vibrant, diverse and growing city.”

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/mayor_signs_bill_nixing_property_taxes_for_certain_seniors/8278

3 Comments

1. James said at 1:40 am on Thursday March 27, 2014:
   Idiotic move, as only an idiot can make. (Good luck with the post election trial.)

1. Jason said at 8:12 pm on Thursday March 27, 2014:
   Buying votes? Considering the wealth differential between young adults and seniors greatly favors the seniors these days, I think that people 18-35 should be the ones getting tax relief.

1. Larry said at 8:50 pm on Thursday March 27, 2014:
   These protections exist for seniors with little savings and low-incomes. They protect those people who bought in DC when it was the cheapest in the area and have lived their adult lives here. Their property taxes should not be the thing that drives them to move, when at 70 they are already in their final years.