Southampton County Real Estate Tax Relief for the Elderly and Disabled

Division 2 of article IV of chapter 15 of the county code (as amended through the Ordinance of May 27, 2025, effective January 1, 2026) sets the program. The title must be held or partially held on January 1, the head of household 65 or older or permanently and totally disabled on December 31 of the preceding year, and the dwelling occupied as the sole dwelling. Total combined income may not exceed $45,000, with the first $6,500 of each non-spouse relative excluded; net combined financial worth, including equitable interests, may not exceed $168,501.00 excluding the dwelling and up to one acre (section 15-93). Section 15-95 sets the sliding amount: 100 percent of the tax where income is $28,099 or less, 75 percent to $33,733, 50 percent to $39,367 and 25 percent to $44,999.99, each "up to a maximum of $1,250.00", and nothing at $45,000 or above. Under section 15-94 the exemption is claimed on a three-year cycle - a full affidavit "not later than March 1 of that third taxable year" and a no-change certification in the intervening years, with the cycle resuming January 1, 2022. A change in status that exceeds the limits nullifies the exemption for the current and following year. The county's Real Estate Tax Relief page still prints an older income figure of "$40,300.99" with an annual-by-March-1 filing; the code's section 15-93 governs and the page is stale. It is not a VA rating of 100% service-connected, and a disabled veteran who does not meet that test can use it.