By Rick HowlettJefferson County Property Valuation Administrator Tony Lindauer has launched an amnesty program for homeowners who are improperly claiming a homestead exemption on their property.The homestead law allows Jefferson County homeowners age 65 and older to exempt $33,700 in property value from taxes.Lindauer says many people who inherit property fail to remove the extension. It can also be mistakenly passed along when property is sold.He says during the month of July, those who are improperly getting the benefit can have it removed without paying back taxes or penalties. After that, the PVA's investigative unit will take over."What we're doing is examining the tax roll and the unpaid bills and through deaths, we examine the deaths, and that's one way we come up with the information," he said.Lindauer says he's not certain how many of the county's 50-thousand homestead exemption recipients are getting the benefit illegally, but a one week preliminary investigation turned up more than $300,000 in uncollected revenue from illegal claims.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.