County treasurer outlines property tax relief options, council to consider raising hardship income limit

Corey Forsling briefed the Summit County Council on the county's property tax relief programs, outlining eligibility, calculation examples and program funding. Forsling described five program types: exemptions for disabled veterans and active‑duty military; a blind exemption; the homeowner 'circuit breaker' credit (with a state‑set income threshold listed in the presentation as $38,369 and a maximum refundable credit component of $11.86); an indigent/hardship abatement for low‑income or disabled residents; and a CB‑75+ deferral option for residents age 75 and older.

Forsling provided examples showing how the circuit breaker and market‑value exemption can reduce tax bills, and said total relieved dollars in 2022 were approximately $434,000 with disabled‑veteran relief accounting for about $206,000. He reported improved outreach to eligible veterans after placing program information on mailed tax notices.

Council discussed the single county‑level tool available to expand relief: raising the county hardship (indigent) income limit. Forsling noted that Grand County raised its discretionary limit to 120% of the state threshold as an example and suggested the council could choose an increased limit while keeping benefit calculations the same. Council members asked for additional information and directed staff to schedule consideration of a proposed change for the August 26 council meeting and to provide a staff report with fiscal implications.

Forsling also asked the council whether he could continue to report aggregate abatement totals rather than parcel‑by‑parcel lists; council signaled support for aggregated reporting with necessary denials run individually to the council if required. No formal vote to change program terms occurred; the council agreed to tee up an agenda item to consider raising the county hardship income limit during the budget cycle.

The council requested follow‑up information on estimated fiscal impacts and an agenda item for a future meeting.