Marion County Assessor: the Homestead Exemption (VA Award Letter Accepted) and the Active-Duty Military Exemption

The homestead page. "Must provide proof of age (copy of drivers license or birth certificate) or if qualifying by disability must provide your Notice of Award letter that you received saying they have granted you disability benefits from the Social Security Office or Veterans Administration stating applicant is permanently & totally disabled." The exemption is "An Exemption from real estate taxes ... for the first $20,000 of assessed value"; new applicants file between July 1 and December 1 at the Assessor's Office. The page's rules: 65 by July 1 of the tax year, or the disability proof above (or a doctor's signature on the Assessor's form); owner and occupant; a West Virginia resident for the two years before July 1; an oath of no similar exemption elsewhere; the exemption rolls over each year while the home stays the residence; a mobile home on someone else's land can qualify; and one exemption per married couple under Article 10, Section 1B of the Constitution. The homestead line is (304) 367-5402. The military page. "The Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act of 1940 and Executive Order 9-88 (W.Va. Code § 11-5-1) allows a taxpayer, who is an active duty member of any branch of the United States Military Service, to receive tax-exempt status on personal property owned during any current assessment period." The office verifies service with a current copy of deployment orders, dated as close to the assessment period as possible and presented each year unless otherwise arranged; the assessment period runs July 1 to October 1, and a mailed assessment must enclose a legible copy, kept confidential. The rules: "West Virginia Resident, stationed out of state, ONE vehicle exempt. West Virginia Resident, stationed in W.Va., NO vehicles exempt. Non-Resident, stationed in W.Va., ALL Personal Property exempt." A taxpayer with only a leased vehicle gets no exemption. The military-exemption line is (304) 367-5406. What the pages do not say. Neither page names the State's disabled-veteran credit under Code 11-13MM (a refundable income tax credit equal to the real property tax paid on the homestead, for a veteran rated ninety percent or more or paid for individual unemployability); see the West Virginia entries, which carry it for Marion County veterans too. Where. Marion County Assessor Jason Smith, 4th Floor, J. Harper Meredith Building, 200 Jackson Street, Fairmont, WV 26554, (304) 367-5410, fax (304) 366-6532, weekdays 8:30 to 4:30.