South Carolina General Assembly
115th Session, 2003-2004

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H. 4474

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Clemmons, Altman and Mahaffey
Document Path: l:\council\bills\ggs\22296htc04.doc

Introduced in the House on January 13, 2004
Currently residing in the House Committee on Ways and Means

Summary: Property tax exemption for surviving spouse of firefighter killed in line of duty

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  12/17/2003  House   Prefiled
  12/17/2003  House   Referred to Committee on Ways and Means
   1/13/2004  House   Introduced and read first time HJ-88
   1/13/2004  House   Referred to Committee on Ways and Means HJ-88

View the latest legislative information at the LPITS web site

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

12/17/2003

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 12-37-220, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS, SO AS TO EXTEND THE EXEMPTION ALLOWED FOR THE DWELLING OF A SERVICE MEMBER PERMANENTLY AND TOTALLY DISABLED FROM A SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITY TO A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER OR FIREFIGHTER SO DISABLED AND TO EXTEND THE EXEMPTION ALLOWED FOR THE DWELLING OF THE SURVIVING SPOUSE OF A SERVICE MEMBER OR LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY TO THE SURVIVING SPOUSE OF A FIREFIGHTER WHO DIED IN THE LINE OF DUTY.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 12-37-220(B)(1)(a) of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 399 of 2000, is further amended to read:

"(a)    The dwelling house in which he resides and a lot not to exceed one acre of land owned in fee or for life, or jointly with a spouse, by a veteran, law enforcement officer, or firefighter who is one hundred percent permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability, if the veteran or qualifying surviving spouse files a certificate, signed by the county service officer or official of the Vocational Rehabilitation Department, as appropriate, of the total and permanent disability with the Department of Revenue. The This exemption is allowed extends to the surviving spouse of the disabled veteran, law enforcement officer, or firefighter and also is allowed to the surviving spouse of a serviceman, or law enforcement officer as defined in Section 23-6-400(D)(1), or firefighter as defined in Section 40-80-10(B) killed in action or in the line of duty who owned the lot and dwelling house in fee or for life, or jointly with his spouse, so long as the spouse does not remarry, resides in the dwelling, and obtains the fee or a life estate in the dwelling. A surviving spouse who disposes of the exempt dwelling and acquires another residence in this State for use as a dwelling house with a value no greater than one and one-half times the fair market value of the exempt dwelling may apply for and receive the exemption on the newly acquired dwelling, but a subsequent dwelling of a surviving spouse is not eligible for exemption pursuant to this item. The spouse shall inform the Department of Revenue of the change in address of the dwelling. To qualify for the exemption, the dwelling house must be the domicile of the person who qualifies for the exemption."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and applies for property tax years beginning after 2003.

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