Before we start anything else that we probably can’t finish, here’s a little something:
Last week I mentioned some BIG changes with Kitsap Physician’s Service, which touches more than a couple of us around here. Here’s an e-mail I got from a reader who I happen to know to be a very sharp lady:
“Hi Mark: As usual I read your article this Thursday and almost fell off my chair when you stated KPS is ceasing to be!!! My deceased husband was a federal employee in Bremerton and had KPS which transferred to me now. I immediately called them and here is the scoop: Kitsap Physicians Service is alive and well. They are only exiting individual and family plans due to rising health care costs, etc. They are just too little a fish in a big pond, but their large employee plans, Federal plans, and Medicare supplement plans are CONTINUING. Since so many of your readers are retired and quite a few "Bremerton or Kitsap Co. transplants", you might want to make this clear to them that if they are in Federal plans or Medicare supplement plans, their coverage is intact.”
First, thank you! If it were me, I’d do exactly what this reader did and call Kitsap Physician’s Service to get the lowdown on MY situation.
Now, there are a few things in the Universe (besides Medicare and Medicaid) that just seem to defy common understanding, like the “Theory of Relativity” - Maybe E doesn’t = MC2? Well, whatever…
Another is property taxes. Most of us, unless we work with it on a regular basis, just don’t really get how they’re calculated, and yours truly is certainly no exception, but here’s something I do understand: Making a daily choice between food or medicine, or turning on the heat vs. paying your doctor bill, or…That, I understand.
However it is that property taxes are calculated, the fact is that they ARE calculated, and the counties in which we reside have virtually no senses of humor when it comes to our not being able to afford them…Or the medicine…Or the heat…So, here’s a bit about property tax exemptions and deferrals. These won’t apply to all of us because all of us don’t qualify, and rightfully so; but for those who do, these can be a lifesaver.
If you’re a computer person and want to check my accuracy or get to all of the necessary forms or just can’t sleep, you can go to http://dor.wa.gov/Content/FindTaxesAndRates/PropertyTax/IncentivePrograms.aspx# and find more than you ever wanted to know; you’ll also find staff in the County Assessor’s office extremely helpful – I always have.
So, let’s take a look and see if we’re even in the ballpark for any of these, and please remember this: These reflect state law, so they are STATEWIDE, so, Yes: If what you see here sounds like your cousin in Kent, holler at her! Ready?
Property tax exemption for senior citizens and disabled persons (I don’t invent these titles): You’ve got to own real property and live in it more than half of the year, be 61 or better by December 31 of the tax year, or you have to be retired by reason of disability (and be able to prove it) or a veteran of the U.S. armed forces with 100% service-connected disability.
AND your adjusted household income (Get it? “Household:” That means all of the income added together of everybody who actually lives there on a regular basis) can’t be more than $35,000. STOP: There are a number of expenses that can be subtracted from your income (including some medical expenses), so don’t be too quick to say, “Not me.” Best bet: Get your hands on the form(s) (web site above or call the Assessor’s Office and they’ll mail one to you) and actually read it. You might be pleasantly surprised.
And what would you get? You’d get a reduction in the amount of property taxes due, based on your income, the value of the property, blah blah – Gone, never to return.
Property tax deferral program for senior citizens and disabled persons: A lot of the same as above, like 61 or better or a person with a disability, own the place, live in it most of the time, etc, except that for this, the combined disposable (“adjusted”) income is $40,000 or less. What do you get?
With the “exemption” above, part of your property tax went away – Permanently. This is a deferral, meaning that it doesn’t do away, it just has to be paid some other time, like when you sell the place or move on to better things or quit living there or…WAIT!
This is where everybody always comes unglued: “The County will take the house!” No, they won’t, unless you or the heirs don’t pay the taxes due, and those “taxes due” are usually a LOT less than the price of buying a house, so the kids still came out ahead, get it?
And, in the meantime, you got to stay home and live happily ever after! So, think it through before you throw it out.
Property tax deferral program for homeowners with limited income (I know, sounds like most of us, right?): Forget the age and the “disability” part. You have to own and live in a place for at least five years, and have that “combined disposable income” of $57,000 (these are all “per year”) or less. Sound like anybody you know?
What do you get? You get your 2nd half property taxes deferred; true, those deferrals have to be paid if you die, sell the place, move out, whatever, but if you’re going through a rough patch and need a little help to get by…
Property tax assistance program for widows or widowers of veterans: You have to be a widow or a widower, 62 or better or “disabled, of a vet who died as a result of a service-connected disability OR was rated 100% disabled by the VA 10 years prior to death OR was a former POW and rated 100% disabled for 1 year prior to death OR died in active duty or training status.
AND your good old combined disposable income has to be $40,000 or less. Whew! What do you get? You get assistance for payment of property taxes in the form of a grant, based on income, property value, etc AND the grant does NOT have to be repaid as long as the applicant lives in the home until at least December 15 in the year the grant was received – THAT could seriously help.
I know this stuff can put you into a coma, and Yes, you have to requalify annually and blah blah blah – It’s a lot like having a job! – But if you’re having to make the decisions like the ones I mentioned above, well…
Now: A local gentleman with considerable research capabilities, breathtaking stubbornness and a considerable sense of humor has ascertained that contributions to a qualified IRA can also be deducted from your “adjusted income” – And even some VERY sharp County staff people didn’t know that! So, if this sounds like you to you, you may have to direct staff in the Assessor’s Office to the same WAC (Washington Administrative Code) to which he directed me: WAC-458-16A-115, section 2, paragraph “i.”
Does your head hurt? Mine, too, but I know an 88-year-old gal who is eating, getting her medications and has the heat on comfortably low in her own little house, because of one of these headaches, so I’ll take the migraine, anytime.
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