Tax Exemption Rise for Seniors Proposed

Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks) proposed Wednesday increasing the property tax exemption of senior citizens by $1,750 a year.

The current exemption for all homeowners is $7,000. Strickland’s bill would hike that amount to $8,750 for those 62 and older.

That would save older homeowners at least $17.50 annually, or 1% of the $1,750 exempted from property taxes.

Strickland said there can be no better time to refund money to seniors, since the state projects a $4-billion budget surplus for the coming year.

“Our seniors are overdue for tax relief,” he said.

The idea for the exemption came from a 1999 state Senate bill that covered all homeowners. That bill died because of its cost. Strickland revived the concept last month after Camarillo City Councilman Mike Morgan suggested awarding it only to senior citizens, said Strickland aide Shawn Kent.

“Morgan said he’d been working with folks at Leisure Village, and the head of the homeowners association thought it was a good idea,” Kent said. “It’s $17.50, but you have to start somewhere. And we’re creating a precedent for having a different [higher] senior exemption, too.”