KRS 132.810 — Homestead exemption -- Application -- Qualification

(1) To qualify under the homestead exemption provision of the Constitution, each
person claiming the exemption shall file an application with the property valuation
administrator of the county in which the applicant resides, on forms prescribed by
the department. The assessed value of property on which homestead exemption is
claimed shall not be increased because of valuation expressed on the application
form filed with the property valuation administrator, and whenever it becomes
known that the valuation of pr operty subject to the homestead tax exemption has
been increased because of valuation expressed on the application form, adjustment
shall be made the following year so that the total tax paid by the taxpayer is the
same as if the increase had not been made.
(2) (a) Every person filing an application for exemption under the homestead
exemption provision must be sixty -five (65) years of age or older during the
year for which application is made or must have been classified as totally
disabled under a program authorized or administered by an agency of the
United States government or by any retirement system either within or without
the Commonwealth of Kentucky on January 1 of the year in which application
is made.
(b) Every person filing an application for exem ption under the homestead
exemption provision must own and maintain the property for which the
exemption is sought as his personal residence.
(c) Every person filing an application for exemption under the disability provision
of the homestead exemption mus t have received disability payments pursuant
to the disability and must maintain the disability classification for the entirety
of the particular taxation period.
(d) 1. Every person filing for the homestead exemption who is totally disabled
and is less than sixty-five (65) years of age must apply for the homestead
exemption on an annual basis, except as provided by subparagraph 2. of
this paragraph.
2. a. A service-connected totally disabled veteran of the United States
Armed Forces; or
b. A totally and pe rmanently disabled individual found disabled
under:
i. The applicable rules of the Social Security Administration;
ii. The applicable rules of the Kentucky Retirement Systems; or
iii. Any other provision of the Kentucky Revised Statutes;
shall document the disability at the time of application for the homestead
exemption and shall not be required to apply for the homestead
exemption on an annual basis.
(e) 1. Only one (1) exemption per residential unit shall be allowed even
though the resi dent may be sixty -five (65) years of age and also totally
disabled, and regardless of the number of residents sixty -five (65) years
of age or older occupying the unit.
2. The sixty-five hundred dollars ($6,500) exemption provided in Section
170 of the Cons titution of Kentucky shall be construed to mean sixty -
five hundred dollars ($6,500) in terms of the purchasing power of the
dollar in 1972.
3. Every two (2) years thereafter, if the cost of living index of the United
States Department of Labor has changed as much as one percent (1%),
the maximum exemption shall be adjusted accordingly.
(f) The real property may be held by legal or equitable title, by the entireties,
jointly, in common, as a condominium, or indirectly by the stock ownership or
membership rep resenting the owner's or member's proprietary interest in a
corporation owning a fee or a leasehold initially in excess of ninety -eight (98)
years. The exemption shall apply only to the value of the real property
assessable to the owner or, in case of owne rship through stock or membership
in a corporation, the value of the proportion which his interest in the
corporation bears to the assessed value of the property.
(g) A mobile home, recreational vehicle, when classified as real property as
provided for in KRS 132.751, or a manufactured house shall qualify as a
residential unit for purposes of the homestead exemption provision.
(h) When title to property which is exempted, either in whole or in part, under the
homestead exemption is transferred, the owner, a dministrator, executor,
trustee, guardian, conservator, curator, or agent shall report such transfer to
the property valuation administrator.
(3) Notwithstanding any statutory provisions to the contrary, the provisions of this
section shall apply to the as sessment and taxation of property under the homestead
exemption provision for state, county, city, or special district purposes.
(4) (a) The homestead exemption for disabled persons shall terminate whenever
those persons no longer meet the total disability classification at the end of the
taxation period for which the homestead exemption has been granted. In no
case shall the exemption be prorated for persons who maintained the total
disability classification at the end of the taxation period.
(b) Any total ly disabled person granted the homestead exemption under the
disability provision shall report any change in disability classification to the
property valuation administrator in the county in which the homestead
exemption is authorized.
(c) Any person maki ng application and qualifying for the homestead exemption
before payment of his property tax bills for the year in question shall be
entitled to a full or partial exoneration, as the case may be, of the property tax
due to reflect the taxable assessment af ter allowance for the homestead
exemption.
(d) Any person making application and qualifying for the homestead exemption
after property tax bills have been paid shall be entitled to a refund of the
property taxes applicable to the value of the homestead exemption.
(5) In this section, "taxation period" means the period from January 1 through
December 31 of the year in which application is made, unless the person
maintaining the classification dies before December 31, in which case "taxation
period" means the period from January 1 to the date of death.