Please read before you complete the application.

What is the Homestead Exemption? The homestead exemption provides a reduction in property taxes to qualified senior or disabled citizens, or a surviving spouse, on the dwelling that is that individual's principal place of residence and up to one acre of land of which an eligible individual is an owner. The reduction is equal to the taxes that would otherwise be charged on up to $28,000 of the market value of an eligible taxpayer's homestead.

Qualifications for the Homestead Exemption for Real Property and Manufactured or Mobile Homes: To receive the homestead exemption you must be (1) at least 65 years of age during the year you first file, or be determined to have been permanently and totally disabled (see definition at right), or be a surviving spouse (see definition at right), and (2) own and have occupied your home as your principal place of residence on Jan. 1 of the year in which you file the application. For manufactured or mobile home owners, the dates apply to the year following the year in which you file the application. A person only has one principal place of residence; your principal place of residence determines, among other things, where you are registered to vote and where you declare residency for income tax purposes. You may be required to present evidence of age. If the property is being purchased under a land contract, is owned by a life estate or by a trust, or the applicant is the mortgagor of the property, you may be required to provide copies of any contracts, trust agreements, mortgages or other documents that identify the applicant's eligible ownership interest in the home. Total income is defined as the adjusted gross income for Ohio income tax purposes (line 3 of Ohio income tax return) of the owner and the owner's spouse for the year preceding the year for which you are applying. If you do not file an Ohio income tax return, adjusted gross income includes compensation, rents, interest, fees and most other types of total income. Certain Social Security and disability benefits are not included in adjusted gross income. If you are unsure of what income is included, contact your county auditor. You may be required to produce evidence of income.

Definition of a Surviving Spouse: An eligible surviving spouse must (1) be the surviving spouse of a person who was receiving the homestead exemption by reason of age or disability for the year in which the death occurred, and (2) must have been at least 59 years old on the date of the decedent's death.

Permanent Disability: Permanent and totally disabled means a person who has, on the first day of January of the year for which the homestead exemption is requested, some impairment of body or mind that makes him/her unfit to work at any substantially remunerative employment which he/she is reasonably able to perform and which will, with reasonable probability, continue for an indefinite period of at least 12 months without any present indication of recovery, or who has been certified as totally and permanently disabled by an eligible state or federal agency.