The Jefferson County Assessor’s Office has become one of the first in the state to implement technology to help the office find and apply the homestead tax credit on real property.
County Assessor Yvonnne Humphrey said her office is using a data service program called Homestead Credit Finder from DataScout LLC, a Fayetteville based data service company to help identify property owners who have more than one property being assessed in Arkansas as their primary place of residence.
Using the program, the office is able to comply with Amendment 79 of the Arkansas Constitution by helping to ensure that only one homestead tax credit is applied per homeowner. Under Amendment 79, each homeowner in the state is entitled to one homestead tax credit of up to $350 on property that is used as their primary place of residence.
In addition to the tax credit, Amendment 79 also offers other benefits to the property owner such as a “freeze” on the assessed value of the principal place of residence for people 65 or over, or those who are disabled, a five percent per year limit on the increase in assessed value of the principal place of residence of other property owners, and a 10 percent per year limit on the increase in assessed value for all other property types.
Before having access to the Homestead Credit Finder, the assessor’s office did not have an effective way to determine whether a property owner who was applying for a homestead tax credit might have also claimed a tax credit in another county in the state.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Employees of the assessor’s office had to make telephone calls or mail letters to other county assessor’s offices to ask about a person’s principal place of residence, and while Humphrey’s office will still follow up with assessors in other counties, the office will now be able to search over 2.5 million Arkansas property records in all 75 counties to identify and verify the homestead tax credit of a property owner or a new applicant.
This will help eliminate fines assessed against the taxpayer for having more than one homestead credit.
The taxpayer is responsible for notifying the assessor’s office of any changes in their residency, and anyone with questions should contact the Jefferson County Assessor’s Office at 541-5344 or jeffcoassessor@sbcglobal.net .