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Acceptance of Late File Application for 2026 Senior Citizen's Property Tax Exemption - Robin Chaffin
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SUBMITTED BY: Elise Sorum-Birk, Deputy City Clerk
FISCAL NOTES:
Expenditure Required: n/a
Unencumbered Balance: n/a
Funding Source: n/a
RECOMMENDATION:
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n/a
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SUMMARY STATEMENT:
Please find the following documents attached from Robin Chaffin:
* 2026 Property Tax Exemption Application
* Written Explanation of Late Application
In this instance, notices were not mailed to the taxpayer, and the taxpayer was incorrectly reported to be deceased and not contacted.
While it is the responsibility of the property owner to submit the form in a timely manner, in this case no regular courtesy notices or reminders were provided to the taxpayer.
Administrative Note:
Under Alaska Statute (AS 29.45.030) and Valdez Municipal Code (VMC 3.12.030), real property owned and occupied as the primary residence by a senior citizen is exempt from taxation on the first $150,000 of the assessed value of the real property.
The property owner is required by statute and code to file annually for the exemption, no later than January 15th of the assessment year for which the exemption is sought.
Under Valdez Municipal Code (VMC 3.12.030(3)(a)), only the City Council holds the authority to waive the annual January 15th application deadline for this exemption program. The City Council, for good cause, may waive the applicant's failure to make timely application for the current year and authorize the City Clerk's Office to accept the application as if timely filed.
There is no statutory or codified definition for "good cause" so determining what is "good cause" is at the discretion of City Council. There are also no limits in current code on timing of when a late file exemption request may be processed and this creates administrative hardship.
Staff recommends that this section of code be reviewed to create more clear and consistent process requirements. ...
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