A compromise has been reached on legislation which would extend the deadline for homeowners to submit their application to continue receiving a homestead property tax credit.  As introduced, SB 158 would have extended the deadline to June 1, 2013, which would have caused administrative complexities associated with making changes in tax credit status mid-year.  From MACo’s testimony:

Counties send out property tax bills July 1 of each year with the first half of property taxes due by September 30. The June 1 extension deadline would not provide sufficient time for SDAT to process applications and make adjustments in the tax files prior to tax bills being sent. This would result in counties making mid-year adjustments, mailing reinstatement notices and possibly refunding taxes that have already been paid for thousands of homeowners.

Working with the bill’s sponsor, Senator Joan Carter-Conway, and the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), the bill was amended to extend the deadline to December 30, 2013.  Should the bill be passed by both chambers of the General Assembly, the tax file sent by SDAT to the counties for July 1 tax bills would include the credit for one more year.