Dateline: February 21, 2008

CC Regents to discuss ending vehicle tax

Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The Clarendon College Board of Regents will discuss abolishing the personal property tax on automobiles when they hold their regular meeting next month.

Board Chairman Charles Deyhle said the topic came up during the regents’ meeting last Thursday in terms of the number of people filing for what the Donley Appraisal District calls a multi-use exemption.

“It was kicked around and discussed, but no action was taken on the subject,” Deyhle said.

CC President Bill Auvenshine said the topic would be placed on the agenda for the March 13 meeting.

 Donley Appraisal District Chief Appraiser Paula Lowrie said Tuesday that her office had received 59 applications for the exemption. Those applications had not yet been processed or given final approval.

The appraisal district has an estimated 1,500 accounts that pay taxes on personal property. Each of those accounts has at least one vehicle, but some accounts represent families or individuals that may have two or more vehicles.

It is still unclear how the multi-use exemption might affect local taxing entities.

“We can’t really tell until the April 1 deadline passes,” Lowrie said. “Obviously it’s going to take otherwise taxable property off the rolls.”

Lowrie said it’s important to remember that the exemption applies only to vehicles used for both business and personal uses.

“These are vehicles that would be taxed as business property whether or not we had taxes on vehicles for personal use,” she said.

The passage of Proposition 6 last fall amended the state constitution under House Bill 1022 to allow an individual to exempt one passenger car or light truck from personal property taxes if the vehicle is used for both business and personal reasons.

Citizens must fill out an application to receive the exemption, and people who want that exemption to apply for the 2007 tax year must fill out the form at the appraisal office by April 1, 2008.

If the Clarendon College District abolished its tax on personal property entirely, the college would lose about $36,000 annually.

In other college business, the board approved an order of election for May 10, 2008, for the purpose of electing three regents.

Those positions are currently held by John Howard, Bill Sansing, and Jack Moreman; and all three of those men have signed up to run again.

The calendar for the 2008-2009 year was adopted.

The board discussed a new state law that limits students to six class drops in their academic career. Exemptions that apply to the new law include students withdrawing from all classes, dual credit students in high school, and withdrawals due to illness or a death in the family. The dean of students must approve all exemptions.