•A taxpayer may defer payment of County property taxes due on residential real property

•used as the owner’s principal residence.

•The amount of taxes that may be deferred for any one year is:

•the amount that County taxes exceed the amount of County taxes in the prior taxable year.

•Taxes that are eligible for deferral are the General County and Special Service Area real property taxes, if:

•The gross income or combined gross income of all individuals who actually reside in the dwelling did not exceed $120,000 for the preceding calendar year; and

•The owner, or at least one of the owners, must reside in the dwelling as their principal place of residence, and must have done so for at least 5 years.

•Interest accrues on the deferred taxes at a rate set annually by the County that does not exceed the prime lending rate (~3%).

•The annual interest rate set by the County applies to any tax deferred that year, regardless of the year when the tax was first deferred (i.e., the new interest rate is applied to all deferred taxes).

•The accumulation of deferred taxes and accrued interest must not exceed 50% of the full cash value of the property.