Low-income seniors may get bigger break

An additional $25,000 homestead exemption may be in the offing, but it doesn't add up to much.

By ANNE LINDBERG

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 10, 2000

PINELLAS PARK -- Low-income seniors who have been waiting for a property tax break may finally get it Thursday night.

That's when the Pinellas Park council is scheduled to decide whether to grant an additional $25,000 homestead exemption to senior citizens whose income is $20,000 a year or less.

The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 5141 78th Ave. N.

Council members tabled the issue in November because they wanted to make it easier to take the budget into account and prepare for the estimated $300,000 loss if they grant the exemption.

If it's granted, it likely will take effect in the 2000-2001 fiscal year.

The issue became hot last year after the Legislature passed a bill that permitted cities and counties to vote up to an additional $25,000 homestead exemption for low-income property owners older than 65 whose income is less than $20,000 a year.

But many councils, like Kenneth City's, have refused to grant the exemption because it's uncertain how hard it could hit a city budget.

Others have criticized the break, saying it will not give seniors much help at all.

In the case of Pinellas Park, the savings would be about $130 for each taxpayer who qualified. That's about $10 or $11 a month.

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