2006 Ohio Revised Code - [323.15.1] 323.151.Definitions.

[§ 323.15.1] § 323.151. Definitions.
 

As used in sections 323.151 [323.15.1] to 323.159 [323.15.9] of the Revised Code: 

(A) "Homestead" means either of the following: 

(1) A dwelling, including a unit in a multiple-unit dwelling and a manufactured home or mobile home taxed as real property pursuant to division (B) of section 4503.06 of the Revised Code, owned and occupied as a home by an individual whose domicile is in this state and who has not acquired ownership from a person, other than the individual's spouse, related by consanguinity or affinity for the purpose of qualifying for the real property tax reduction provided in section 323.152 [323.15.2] of the Revised Code. 

(2) A unit in a housing cooperative that is occupied as a home, but not owned, by an individual whose domicile is in this state. 

The homestead shall include so much of the land surrounding it, not exceeding one acre, as is reasonably necessary for the use of the dwelling or unit as a home. An owner includes a holder of one of the several estates in fee, a vendee in possession under a purchase agreement or a land contract, a mortgagor, a life tenant, one or more tenants with a right of survivorship, tenants in common, and a settlor of a revocable inter vivos trust holding the title to a homestead occupied by the settlor as of right under the trust. The tax commissioner shall adopt rules for the uniform classification and valuation of real property or portions of real property as homesteads. 

(B) "Sixty-five years of age or older" means a person who has attained age sixty-four prior to the first day of January of the year of application for reduction in real estate taxes. 

(C) "Total income" means the adjusted gross income of the owner and the owner's spouse for the year preceding the year in which application for a reduction in taxes is made, as determined under the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C.A. 1, as amended, adjusted as follows: 

(1) Subtract the amount of disability benefits included in adjusted gross income, but not to exceed fifty-two hundred dollars; 

(2) Add old age and survivors benefits received pursuant to the "Social Security Act" that are not included in adjusted gross income; 

(3) Add retirement, pension, annuity, or other retirement payments or benefits not included in adjusted gross income; 

(4) Add tier I and tier II railroad retirement benefits received pursuant to the "Railroad Retirement Act," 50 Stat. 307, 45 U.S.C.A. 228; 

(5) Add interest on federal, state, and local government obligations; 

(6) For a person who received the homestead exemption for a prior year on the basis of being permanently and totally disabled and whose current application for the exemption is made on the basis of age, subtract the following amount: 

(a) If the person received disability benefits that were not included in adjusted gross income in the year preceding the first year in which the person applied for the exemption on the basis of age, subtract an amount equal to the disability benefits the person received in that preceding year, to the extent included in total income in the current year and not subtracted under division (C)(1) of this section in the current year; 

(b) If the person received disability benefits that were included in adjusted gross income in the year preceding the first year in which the person applied for the exemption on the basis of age, subtract an amount equal to the amount of disability benefits that were subtracted pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section in that preceding year, to the extent included in total income in the current year and not subtracted under division (C)(1) of this section in the current year. 

Disability benefits that are paid by the department of veterans affairs or a branch of the armed forces of the United States on account of an injury or disability shall not be included in total income. 

(D) "Old age and survivors benefits received pursuant to the 'Social Security Act' " or "tier I railroad retirement benefits received pursuant to the 'Railroad Retirement Act"' means: 

(1) For those persons receiving the homestead exemption for the first time for tax years 1976 and earlier, old age benefits payable under the social security or railroad retirement laws in effect on December 31, 1975, except in those cases where a change in social security or railroad retirement benefits would result in a reduction in income. 

(2) For those persons receiving the homestead exemption for the first time for tax years 1977 and thereafter, old age benefits payable under the social security or railroad retirement laws in effect on the last day of the calendar year prior to the year for which the homestead exemption is first received, or, if no such benefits are payable that year, old age benefits payable the first succeeding year in which old age benefits under the social security or railroad retirement laws are payable, except in those cases where a change in social security or railroad retirement benefits results in a reduction in income. 

(3) The lesser of: 

(a) Survivors benefits payable under the social security or railroad retirement laws in effect on the last day of the calendar year prior to the year for which the homestead exemption is first received, or, if no such benefits are payable that year, survivors benefits payable the first succeeding year in which survivors benefits are payable; or 

(b) Old age benefits of the deceased spouse, as determined under division (D)(1) or (2) of this section, upon which the surviving spouse's survivors benefits are based under the social security or railroad retirement laws, except in those cases where a change in benefits would cause a reduction in income. 

Survivors benefits are those described in division (D)(3)(b) of this section only if the deceased spouse received old age benefits in the year in which the deceased spouse died. If the deceased spouse did not receive old age benefits in the year in which the deceased spouse died, then survivors benefits are those described in division (D)(3)(a) of this section. 

(E) "Permanently and totally disabled" means a person who has, on the first day of January of the year of application for reduction in real estate taxes, some impairment in body or mind that makes the person unable to work at any substantially remunerative employment that the person is reasonably able to perform and that will, with reasonable probability, continue for an indefinite period of at least twelve months without any present indication of recovery therefrom or has been certified as permanently and totally disabled by a state or federal agency having the function of so classifying persons. 

(F) "Housing cooperative" means a housing complex of at least two hundred fifty units that is owned and operated by a nonprofit corporation that issues a share of the corporation's stock to an individual, entitling the individual to live in a unit of the complex, and collects a monthly maintenance fee from the individual to maintain, operate, and pay the taxes of the complex. 
 

HISTORY: 134 v H 475 (Eff 12-20-71); 134 v S 535 (Eff 6-30-72); 136 v H 23 (Eff 5-1-75); 136 v S 24 (Eff 11-7-75); 136 v S 489 (Eff 9-1-76); 136 v H 920 (Eff 10-11-76); 137 v H 1 (Eff 8-26-77); 140 v H 260 (Eff 9-27-83); 140 v S 201 (Eff 4-4-85); 141 v S 121 (Eff 10-17-85); 141 v H 182 (Eff 3-13-87); 144 v H 66 (Eff 7-11-91); 144 v H 641 (Eff 10-6-92); 146 v H 117 (Eff 6-30-95); 147 v S 142 (Eff 3-30-99); 148 v S 6 (Eff 8-12-99); 148 v H 595. Eff 4-5-2001; 150 v H 369, § 1, eff. 11-26-04.
 

The provisions of § 3 of HB 672 (148 v  - ) read as follows: 

SECTION 3. Sections 323.151, 323.152, 323.154, and 323.155 of the Revised Code, as amended by Am. Sub. S.B. 142 of the 122nd General Assembly, and sections 323.153 and 323.156 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, apply to 2000 and thereafter. 

The provisions of § 3(A) of SB 6 (148 v  - ) read as follows: 

SECTION 3. (A)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(2) of this section, the amendments made by this act to division (C) of section 323.151 and division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code first apply to tax year 1999. A person whose homestead first becomes eligible for the reduction in taxable value or is entitled to an increased reduction for tax year 1999 because of the amendments made to either of those divisions may apply for the reduction or increase therein for that year not later than 90 days after the effective date of this section, notwithstanding filing requirements to the contrary under division (A)(3) of section 323.153 of the Revised Code. 

(2) Notwithstanding division (A)(3) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, the adjustment to the dollar amount by which taxable value is reduced under that division shall be made first in calendar year 2001 and thereafter. The reduction resulting from that adjustment first applies to tax years 2002 and thereafter. 

 

Effect of Amendments

150 v H 369, effective November 26, 2004, in (E), substituted "unable" for "unfit".