FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2, 2009
Contact:
Joi Bergman
Communications Director
(319) 892-5118
joi.bergman@linncounty.org
Linn County Abates Property Taxes for Flood-impacted Properties
(CEDAR RAPIDS, IA-September 2, 2009) — The Linn County Board of Supervisors today approved abating property taxes for residents, commercial businesses and industrial entities at 100 percent for the period of time the property owners were not able to use or occupy their property because of damage from the 2008 flood. The abatement covers the taxing periods of July 1 – December 31, 2008 and January 1 – June 30, 2009 and applies to the property taxes due September 30, 2009 and March 31, 2010.
Property taxes for residents, commercial businesses and industrial entities in Palo will also be abated at 100 percent, over the next five taxing periods, for the period of time the property owners were not able to use or occupy their property. There will be no abatement for property taxes due in subsequent years.
“If we were to abate property taxes in Palo at 100 percent now, it would end city government in Palo,” said Supervisor Linda Langston. “They would be inoperable.”
Flood-impacted property owners must submit a form to the County requesting a tax abatement by October 1, 2009. There are separate forms for residential and commercial property owners. The forms are available on the Linn County website at www.linncounty.org and at Linn County offices at 2500 Edgewood Rd. SW (Westdale Mall) in Cedar Rapids. The forms will be available later this week at several other locations including, City Hall North at 3851 River Ridge Drive NE, Cedar Rapids and at Palo City Hall, 4533 Shellsburg Rd. in Palo. A complete list of locations for forms will be posted on the Linn County website and will be updated as the list of locations increases.
“Given everything that property owners have been through since the flood, abating property taxes for the period they were unable to use their property is the right thing to do,” said Supervisor Lu Barron. “There will be a significant impact to the budgets of local government, but we have to be sympathetic to the losses flood survivors have endured.”
Linn County, the City of Cedar Rapids, the Cedar Rapids School District and the City of Palo will not know the full financial impact to their respective budgets until the forms are received and processed and abatements granted.
Exceptions to Abatements
Per Iowa Code 445.62, if property taxes were more than 30 days delinquent at the time of the flood, the property owner is not eligible for an abatement. Additionally, flood-impacted properties that were sold after June 13, 2008 are not eligible for an abatement.
Property owners with questions should call the Linn County Board of Supervisors Office at (319) 892-5000.
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Property Tax Abatement Applications
Property tax abatement applications can be downloaded from the link above. Hard copies of the applications are available at the following locations:
Linn County West
2500 Edgewood Road SW, Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids City Hall
3851 River Ridge Drive NE
www.cedar-rapids.org
Cedar Rapids Assessor’s office
1211 – 6th Street SW, 2nd floor
Cedar Rapids Water Department
1111 Shaver Road NE
Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce
424 First Avenue NE
www.cedarrapids.org
Cedar Rapids Public Library
Westdale Mall
2600 Edgewood Road SW
OR
Downtown branch
Armstrong Centre
221 Third Street SE
Cedar Rapids Downtown District
312 Second Avenue SE
Jumpstart office
Guaranty Bank Building
302 Third Avenue SE
Waypoint
318 Fifth Street SE
Horizons
819 Fifth Street SE
The Linn County Aging and Disability Resource Center is available to help older adults and people with disabilities complete the tax abatement application. For more information, contact the Aging and Disability Resource Center at (319) 892-5770 or visit them at 740 North 15th Ave. Suite C, Hiawatha, Iowa.
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