Grants For Property Tax Rent And Heat

A low-income senior or individual with a disability is currently eligible for 2 types of annual state assistance grants administered by the department of revenue related to his or her property: A grant for their property taxes or rent paid, with the latter being deemed a tax-equivalent payment (property tax and rent assistance grant), and a grant for heat or fuel expenses (heat assistance grant). Together these are commonly known as the 'PTC' rebate.

The bill expands the property tax and rent assistance grant by repealing the requirement that rent must be paid to a landlord that pays property tax. For grants claimed for 2018, the bill also increases the:

• Maximum property tax and rent assistance grant from $700 to $753;
• Maximum heat assistance grant from $192 to $206; and
• Flat grant amount, which is the minimum grant amount, from $227 to $244 for the property tax and rent assistance grant and from $73 to $78 for the heat assistance grant, assuming that the actual expenses exceed these amounts.

All of these increases reflect inflationary growth since 2014, and all of these amounts will continue to be adjusted annually for inflation.

Under current law, the maximum eligible income amounts and the phase-out amount are also annually adjusted for inflation, albeit without being defined as such. The amounts specified for grants claimed for 2018 are the inflation-adjusted amounts, and they will continue to be adjusted for inflation in the future.

Obsolete provisions relating to grants claimed for past years are repealed and other provisions relating to grants prior to 2018 are repealed after they become obsolete in the future.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)