Primary Residential Exemption
During the 2019 General Legislative Session, SB13 was passed into law. The law requires residential property owners to submit a written declaration to the County Assessor stating whether the property is used as a primary or secondary residence. If your mailing address, voter registration or address do not match the physical address of your property, you will receive a letter and form from our office to declare your primary residence.
The primary residential exemption reduces your residential property's taxable value by 45%. Only one exemption may be claimed per household with in the state. This means that if you own multiple residential properties in the state, they must be the primary residence of a tenant to receive the exemption. Note: A "household" includes married couples who are not legally separated but live in separate properties. These couples only qualify for the exemption on a one-owner residence.
Please remember that a residential property is a primary residence if it is occupied 183 or more consecutive calendar days in a calendar year. Year-round short term rentals may not qualify.
There is no exemption given for Commercial Properties, Vacant Land, Secondary Homes, Vacation Homes, Cabins, Time-Shares, or other types of transitory housing. These properties are taxed at 100% of the market value.
All property owners must sign the form. That includes both spouses if the property is jointly owned by a married couple. If there are more than two owners, please sign on a blank space or attach an additional sheet with those owners names, signatures, and date.
Failure to submit a completed and signed declaration to the County Assessor may result in the withdrawal of the primary residential exemption. This could effectively increase your property taxes substantially.
Available Forms
Residential Property Declaration
Additional Residential Property Information
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office.