THE HOMESTEAD CREDIT

The Homestead Credit is a credit of up to $375.00 off of your tax statement if you qualify. To qualify you must own a home and it must be your principal place of residence. Each family is allowed only one homestead credit in the State. The credit applies to the home and up to one acre the house sits on.

Here’s how the Homestead Credit is calculated:

• Our example home is valued at $50,000.
• The assessment is 1/5th of the appraisal, or $10,000.
• The $10,000 will be multiplied by the millage rate ( .0525 for Fort Smith School District ) making your tax bill $525.00.
• $375.00 is deducted from that $52, making the tax bill only $150.00.

If your home is valued at $25,000, assessed at $5,000 X .0525 your tax bill would be $262.50. The homestead credit allowed to you would be $262.50. You would then have no tax bill.

Simply call the office at 479.784.1516 or contact us by email to have an application sent, or come by and fill one out and we will apply the credit to your home.

65+ & DISABLED TAX FREEZE

If you are a home-owner and your home is your principal place of residence and you are 65 or older or disabled, you will qualify to have your property value frozen. This means that the property value on your home will not increase unless there is a millage increase of an addition to the home.

Simply bring or send us a copy of your driver’s license or any proof of age or your disability papers and we will be thrilled to apply the Freeze to your property values.

The Tax Freeze does not freeze your taxes; it freezes your property’s value.

• If the value of your home goes up due to inflation, your taxes will remain the same.
• If you add onto your home, your home’s value will increase. At that point the freeze will fall off and be reapplied at the new value with the addition
• If the millage rate increases, the freeze will fall off and be reapplied at the new value with the new millage rate figured in.