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County Auditor and Area Office on
Aging unveil plan to assist senior homeowners
La Prensa Staff
On Thursday, June
28, 2007, Lucas County Auditor Anita López was joined by Ohio
Governor Ted Strickland, State Senator Teresa Fedor, and State
Representative Mark Waggoner as she unveiled a program designed to
roll back property taxes for thousands of Lucas County senior
citizen homeowners. |
Auditor Anita Lopez and Gov. Strickland |
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The Homestead Exemption Program, which López announced at the
Mayores Senior Center, is a direct result of the first Strickland
budget.
“Your state
government is working,” said Wagoner (R. Ottawa Hills) as he
praised the spirit of “compromise and cooperation” that Strickland
has fostered in the budget process. “It’s a recognition that
Democrats and Republicans can work together.”
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“Together we have
fashioned a budget that will be good for the people of this state
and we were only able to do it because we were all able to sit
down together,” said the governor. “We were going to have a
property tax cut for every senior citizen homeowner in
Ohio.”
Beginning
immediately, senior citizens can sign up for the tax relief
benefits at area senior centers and township halls. The homeowner
tax cuts will make exempt the first $25,000 of property value when
calculating the tax bill. That will mean savings of $392 for the
average Toledo senior citizen homeowner and as much as $569 for a
homeowner living in Ottawa Hills. |
Gov. Strickland and Senator Teresa Fedor |
1
“We are ready to process those forms,” said López at the press
conference on Thursday where her staff was prepared to start the
enrollment.
Also in
attendance at the announcement was Billie Johnson, executive
director of the Area Office on Aging. Johnson’s agency has
partnered with the County Auditor’s office to bring the
homeownership enrollment plan to
Lucas
County.
Johnson thanked the governor and state representatives for “giving
us a budget that can provide services to seniors.”
Prior to this
current state budget, senior citizens could apply for such relief
based solely upon income levels. Currently about 8,000 Lucas
County residents are enrolled in the exemption program. The new
program offers relief based upon the homeowner’s status of being a
senior citizen.
According to
López her office can also provide one-on-one assistance for those
unable to attend the sign up sessions. A senior can call
419-213-4406 for such assistance.
For more
information on the times and locations of the sign ups, see the
schedule
below.
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