No. You are only entitled to one Homeowners' Exemption.

Backlogs may occur at different times during the year in processing 15,000 or so Homeowners' Exemption claims and changes we receive each year. These backlogs sometimes delay the processing of a claim for a few weeks. As a result, it is not uncommon for property tax bills to be issued that do not properly include the exemption. If you receive an annual property tax bill without the exemption, do not ignore it.

Where a claim is processed too late to be applied to the tax bill, you should pay the first and second installments of the tax bill you received by their respective delinquent dates to avoid any penalties. Once we process your claim, a corrected bill will be issued with the exemption reflected in the amount of that bill.

If you paid both installments a refund check will be issued to you. If you paid the first installment only because the second installment was not yet due, your first installment payment from the original bill will be credited to the first installment of the corrected tax bill and the difference refunded to you. You will be responsible for payment of the second installment of the corrected tax bill by the next due date. A refund cannot be issued until after the original bill has been paid and the corrected bill issued.

If the Homeowners' Exemption appears on the annual property tax bill, it will not appear on supplemental or additional property tax bills issued for the same tax year.

If you are a new owner of property purchased after the lien date of January 1, and the Homeowner's Exemption does not appear on the annual property tax bill, it should appear on your supplemental property tax bill.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the delay in processing your exemption claim, but one way or the other, you will eventually receive the proper benefit of the exemption if you qualify.

To obtain the exemption for a property, you must be its owner or co-owner (or a purchaser named in a contract of sale), and you must live in the property as your principal place of residence. You must also file the appropriate exemption claim form with the Assessor.

There are two, basic, alternative ways that persons qualify for this exemption:

• Ownership & Occupancy on the Lien Date:
  The exemption is available to the eligible owner of a dwelling which is occupied as their principal place of residence at 12:01 a.m. on January 1 (the lien date) of each year, or
• Ownership & Occupancy or Intent to Occupy within 90 days of a change in ownership or completion of new construction:
  The exemption is available to the eligible owner of a dwelling that is subject to a supplemental assessment resulting from a change in ownership or completion of new construction on or after January 1, provided that:
  • The owner occupies or intends to occupy the property as their principal place of residence within 90 days after the date of change in ownership or the date of completion of new construction. and
  • The property is not already receiving the homeowners' exemption or another exemption of greater value. If the property received an exemption of lesser value on the current assessment roll, the difference in amount between the two exemptions shall be applied to the supplemental assessment.
  • The claim is filed by 5 p.m. on or before the 30th day following the date printed on the "Notice of Supplemental Assessment" issued for the change in ownership or new construction.

Under the second alternative, whatever exemption is granted will be applied to the supplemental assessment or assessments, if any, and the full exemption will take effect during the next fiscal year, provided the claim is timely filed (i.e., within 30 days of the date of Notice of Supplemental Assessment).

If you do not own the property, you should not file a Homeowners' Exemption claim. If you do not occupy, or intend to occupy property you own, you should not file a Homeowners' Exemption claim.