[WardFive] PRESS RELEASE: Mayor Gray Signs Senior Citizen Real Property Tax Relief Act

GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Executive Office of the Mayor

Office of Communications

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, March 25, 2014

 

CONTACTS:     Doxie McCoy 202.727.9691; doxie.mccoy@dc.gov

                        Robert Marus 202.727.6853; robert.marus@dc.gov

 

Mayor Gray Signs Senior Citizen Real Property Tax Relief Act

Legislation Designed to Help Keep Longtime Residents from Being Forced out of District

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Mayor Gray, joined by members of the D.C. Council, other District government officials and senior residents, today signed the Senior Citizen Real Property Tax Relief Act of 2014. The legislation exempts low- and middle-income seniors from real-property taxes if they are at least 70 years old and have owned a residence in the District for 20 consecutive years or longer.

 

“When I first became Mayor, I made a commitment to ensuring that our senior residents remain an integral part of the economic development and growth of our city – and this legislation helps us achieve that goal,” Mayor Gray said. “My budgets and my administration’s policies will continue to place a priority on ensuring that our seniors have the option of aging in the place they have called home for decades, even as we continually attract new residents to our vibrant, diverse and growing city.”

 

Mayor Gray also thanked At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds, who originally drafted the bill. “This legislation fits nicely with our priorities, and I very much appreciate the efforts it took Councilmember Bonds to get us here today,” he said.

 

During Mayor Gray’s State of the District Address on March 11, he detailed his commitment to an additional $100 million investment in affordable housing on top of the $187 million investment he previously announced. The vast majority of it will go into the District’s Housing Production Trust Fund. But he also proposed dedicating some of that funding to make certain the “Senior Citizen Real Property Tax Relief Act of 2014” is funded. This commitment includes making sure the Office of the Chief Financial Officer has the resources available to assist applicants seeking an exemption.

 

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Commissioner Shirley Rivens Smith

ANC5B01

Chairperson/Treasurer ANC 5B

srs-usasc@rcn.com

202-635-3138