Tax break for seniors may expand

DENVER - Despite legislative leaders' protests that the state's budget is too strained, no less than three bills are being considered to let voters expand the Homestead property tax exemption this year.

The measures would allow seniors who have qualified for the exemption to move to another house and take the tax break with them. They differ as to whether they could move outside their counties, how many times they could move and whether others, such as disabled veterans' widows, would be eligible.

Disabled veterans and Coloradans over age 65 who have owned their homes for at least 10 years can deduct 50 percent of the property taxes on the home's first $200,000 of value.

A total of 154,132 seniors and 1,224 veterans - including 17,009 seniors and 212 veterans in El Paso County - claimed the exemptions this year, reducing taxes by $81 million.

The Homestead exemption was a constitutional amendment, so any changes to it must be approved by voters. Any proposed amendments approved by the Legislature would be on the November ballot.

Proponents of allowing more people to take the credit point to the needs of people like Littleton resident Charles Carter, who had a stroke last year around the time his wife had a liver transplant and wants to move from their two-story home to a smaller one without stairs.

Carter is afraid of losing the $776 Homestead exemption he gets, though, because they are on a fixed income with rising medical bills.

"When you've got three different bills from three different legislators in three different parts of the state, I think that says this is an idea whose time has come," said Rep. Steve King, a Grand Junction Republican and co-sponsor of one measure.

But the cost would be $4.4 million to $7.2 million at a time when economic forecasts predict revenue growth will slow in coming years.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, said it is "almost ludicrous" to consider reducing taxes now, but he acknowledged there is strong sentiment to help a vulnerable population that votes consistently.

Several legislators have raised the idea of limiting the exemption to people who own homes worth $500,000 or less, a scenario that would cut out some current tax-break recipients and cost the state little to no more money next year.

Morse said an idea like that is likely the only one that could generate universal support and avoid a brewing floor fight.

CONTACT THE WRITER: (303) 837-0613 or ed.sealover@gazette.com