§ 44-3-13.6 - Jamestown – Exemption of persons 65 years and over.
SECTION 44-3-13.6
§ 44-3-13.6 Jamestown – Exemption ofpersons 65 years and over. – (a) The town council of the town of Jamestown may, by ordinance, exempt fromvaluation for taxation, the real property situated in the town and owned andoccupied by any person sixty-five (65) years or over, which exemption is inaddition to any and all other exemptions from taxation to which the person maybe otherwise entitled.
(b) The town council of the town of Jamestown may, from timeto time, by ordinance, make changes in the amount of exemption granted and therules and regulations as it deems necessary to promote the purpose of thissection. The schedule of exemptions is as follows:
(i) Taxpayers with an income of not less than two hundredpercent (200%) and not more than two hundred twenty percent (220%) of thefederal poverty guideline an exemption of twenty percent (20%) of theassessment cap or the assessed valuation, whichever is less;
(ii) Taxpayers with an income of not less than one hundredand eighty percent (180%) and not more than two hundred percent (200%) of thefederal poverty guideline an exemption of thirty percent (30%) of theassessment cap or the assessed valuation, whichever is less;
(iii) Taxpayers with an income of not less than one hundredand sixty percent (160%) and not more than one hundred and eighty percent(180%) of the federal poverty guideline an exemption of forty percent (40%) ofthe assessment cap or the assessed valuation, whichever is less;
(iv) Taxpayers with an income of not less than one hundredand forty percent (140%) and not more than one hundred and sixty percent (160%)of the federal poverty guideline an exemption of fifty percent (50%) of theassessment cap or the assessed valuation, whichever is less; and
(v) Taxpayers with an income of not more than one hundred andforty percent (140%) of the federal poverty guideline an exemption of sixtypercent (60%) of the assessment cap or the assessed valuation, whichever isless.
(2) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained inthis section, any person receiving an exemption pursuant to chapter 359 of thePublic Laws January Session 1984, at the time of the adoption of the ordinancecontemplated in this section and whose property is assessed in excess of theassessment cap and who qualifies for an exemption under the terms of anyordinance adopted pursuant to this chapter shall receive an exemption based onthe assessment value, not limited by the assessment cap.
(3) For purposes of this section, the income described insubdivision (1) of this subsection is that specified in the federal povertyguideline for one person for all individual owners and that specified for afamily of two (2) for all joint owners, including husband and wife. Only oneexemption is granted to cotenants, joint tenants, and tenants by the entirety,even though all the cotenants, joint tenants and tenants by the entirety aresixty-five (65) years of age or over and occupy the property. In addition tothe requirements of domicile within the town of Jamestown at the time of makingapplication, the applicant must have been a resident of the town for a periodof five (5) years ending with the date of assessment for the year for whichexemption is claimed; provided, however, that the exemption shall not beallowed in favor of any person unless the individual has presented to theassessor a true and exact account of his or her ratable estate as provided forin §§ 44-5-15 and 44-5-16 for the year for which exemption isclaimed, together with evidence that he or she is entitled to the exemption.
(c) No income-bearing residential property, business orcombination of business and residential property, owned and occupied by anyperson or persons sixty-five (65) years of age or over is entitled to theexemption provided in this section. It is the express purpose of this sectionto confine the exemption to residential property exclusively used asresidential property by the owners of the property. Professional persons whooperate and conduct their respective professions from their residences are notentitled to the exemption provided for in this section. The practice of theprofession from any residence is deemed, for the purpose of this section, toconstitute it income-bearing property.
(d) All exemptions terminate upon the conveyance of thesubject property, death of the person excepted, or the moving of the personfrom the town of Jamestown; also when the subject property is altered as tocharacter and use that the property becomes subject to the provisions ofsubsection (e) of this section.
(e) When used in this section:
(1) "Federal poverty guideline" means the poverty guidelinesissued each year by the Department of Health and Human Services and publishedin the federal register.
(2) "Income" in subsection (b) of this section means annualcash receipts before taxes from all sources except as provided in this section.Income includes money wages and salaries before any deductions; net receiptsfrom non-farm self-employment (receipts from a person's own unincorporatedbusiness, professional enterprise, or partnership, after deductions forbusiness expenses); net receipts from farm self-employment (receipts from afarm which one operates as an owner, renter, or sharecropper, after deductionsfor farm operating expenses); regular payments from social security, railroadretirement, unemployment compensation, strike benefits from union funds,workers' compensation, veterans' payments, public assistance (including aid tofamilies with dependent children or temporary assistance for needy families,supplemental security income, and non-federally-funded general assistance orgeneral relief money payments), and training stipends; alimony, child support,and military family allotments or other regular support from an absent familymember or someone not living in the household; private pensions, governmentemployee pensions (including military retirement pay), and regular insurance orannuity payments; college or university scholarships, grants, fellowships, andassistantships; and dividends, interest, net rental income, net royalties,periodic receipts from estate or trusts, and net gambling or lottery winnings.
(ii) "Income" does not include the following types of moneyreceived; capital gains; any assets drawn down as withdrawals from a bank, thesale of property, a house, or a car; or tax refunds, gifts, loans, lump-suminheritances, one-time insurance payments, or compensation for injury. Alsoexcluded are non-cash benefits, such as the employer-paid or union-paid portionof health insurance or other employee fringe benefits, food or housing receivedin lieu of wages, the value of food and fuel produced and consumed on farms,the imputed value of rent from own-occupied non-farm or farm housing, andfederal non-cash benefit programs like Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, schoollunches, and housing assistance.
(3) "Resident" means one legally domiciled within the town ofJamestown for a period of five (5) years ending with the date of assessment fora year for which the exemption is claimed. Mere seasonal or temporary residencewithin the town, of whatever duration, does not constitute domicile within thetown for the purposes of this section. Absence from the town for a period oftwelve (12) months is prima facie evidence of abandonment of domicile in thetown. The burden of establishing legal domicile within the town is upon theapplicant.
(4) "Due evidence": No exemption from taxation on thevaluation of real property, as provided in this section, is allowed, exceptupon the written application, which application is on a form prescribed by theassessor. It is the burden of the applicant to prove his or her eligibility forthe exemption in this section and the tax assessor may require the applicant toproduce supporting information including, but not limited to, federal and/orstate income tax returns and birth certificate. If this information isrequired, the tax assessor shall maintain the confidentiality of theinformation. The assessor may, at any time, inquire into the right of aclaimant to the continuance of an exemption under this section; and, for thatpurpose, he or she may require the filing of a new application or thesubmission of any proof that the assessor deems necessary to determine theright of the claimant to continuance of the exemption.
(5) "Assessment cap" means the sum of one hundred forty-twothousand dollars ($142,000) as the sum may be adjusted from time to time asprovided in this section. At any times that the tax assessor updates theassessments for real property in the town, the tax assessor shall adjust theassessment cap by the percentage increase or decrease between the medianresidential property value based on the aggregate residential propertyassessments then made under the new revaluation, or statistical updates, andthe median residential property value under the previous revaluation, orstatistical updates.
(6) "Median residential property value" means the assessment,which is the midpoint of the frequency distribution of residential propertyassessments or the assessment above which and below which fifty percent (50%)of the assessments lie.
(f) Nothing contained in this section abrogates or affectsthe authority conferred upon the assessor by the provisions of § 44-3-4.