Scotts Bluff County - Assessor FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions - Homestead Exemption
Who May file?
Qualified applicants include:
- Persons over age 65
- Certain disabled individuals
- Certain disabled veterans and their widows
What would disqualify me for my homestead?
- If the home is valued over the maximum allowed
- If my income is over the amount allowed
- If I sell or leave my home before August 15th
How do I file?
You must file between February 1st and June 30th EVERY YEAR in the Assessor's Office. You may either pick up your form and fill it out at home or bring all of you information in and we will fill it out for you.
What do I need to bring?
You need to bring in anything you had for income.
The forms that will have that information includes:
- Form W-2 from wages, salaries, fees, commissions, tips, and bonuses, ect
- Form SSA-1099from Social Security retirement income
- Form RRB-1099 from Tier I railroad retirement
- Form 1099-R, Form RRB-1099-R from Pensions, annuities, and IRA distributions
- Certain tax exempt interest and dividends
- Form 1099-INT, Form 1099-OID, Form 1099-DIV from taxable interest and dividends
- Federal Income Tax Return showing the Adjusted Gross Income
What if my income exceeds the amount allowed for qualifications?
If you make more than the state allows qualifying for homestead exemption you may subtract the amount of out of pocket medical expenses you had to pay.
This includes:
- Premiums and supplements to insurance
- Payments to doctors, dentists, osteopaths, nurses, chiropractors, or other licensed medical practitioners.
- Purchase of medical equipment such as glasses, contacts, dentures, hearing aids, or crutches.
- Payments for prescriptions and/or insulin (Do not include any prescriptions that can be purchased over the counter)
What if I sell my house prior to August 15th?
If you sell your house and purchase another home within Nebraska prior to August 15th you may file a Transfer Statement to move your Homestead Exemption to the new property.
How do I qualify as a Disabled Individual?
- Exemption for individual who has a permanent physical disability and who has lost all mobility such as to preclude locomotion without the regular use of a mechanical aid or prosthesis.
- Exemption for individual who had permanent partial disability of both arms in excess of seventy-five percent.
- Exemption for individual who had undergone amputation of both arms above the elbow. You must pick up a Physician's Certification of Disability for Homestead Exemption form from the Assessor's Office and take it to your doctor. Your doctor needs to check one of the three boxes, sign, and date the form. You need to bring the form and your income information into the office and we can sign you up.
How do I qualify as a Disabled Veteran or their Widow?
- Exemption for veteran totally disabled due to non-service connected illness (annual certification required)
- Exemption for veteran totally disabled due to non-service connected accident (annual certification required)
You must talk to the Veteran's Office to make sure you are a qualified veteran and pick up a physician's form. The doctor will need to sign the physician's form and a certification will be needed from the Veteran's Office. You will need to bring in your income information, the physician's form, and the veteran's certification into the office and we can sign you up.
Updated: 2015.12.07 - 11:00 MDT
