PRINTER'S NO. 989
No. 826 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY O'PAKE, KUKOVICH, ORIE, MUSTO, LOGAN, LAVALLE,
ERICKSON, KITCHEN, COSTA, SCHWARTZ, TARTAGLIONE, RAFFERTY AND
WAUGH, JUNE 17, 2003
REFERRED TO AGING AND YOUTH, JUNE 17, 2003
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 11, 1971 (P.L.104, No.3), entitled, as
2 amended, "An act providing property tax or rent rebate and
3 inflation dividends to certain senior citizens, widows,
4 widowers and permanently disabled persons with limited
5 incomes; establishing uniform standards and qualifications
6 for eligibility to receive rebates and dividends; providing
7 for transportation assistance grants and grants to area
8 agencies on aging for services to older persons; and imposing
9 duties upon the Department of Revenue," further defining
10 "claimant" to include certain estates of deceased
11 individuals; and further providing for claimant eligibility.
12 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
13 hereby enacts as follows:
14 Section 1. Sections 3(7) and 4(d) of the act of March 11,
15 1971 (P.L.104, No.3), known as the Senior Citizens Rebate and
16 Assistance Act, reenacted and amended December 21, 1979
17 (P.L.570, No.131) and amended March 10, 1982 (P.L.177, No.56),
18 are amended to read:
19 Section 3. Definitions.--As used in this act:
20 * * *
21 (7) "Claimant" means a person, or an estate on behalf of a
22 deceased individual, who files a claim for property tax rebate
1 or rent rebate in lieu of property taxes and inflation dividend
2 and was sixty-five years of age or over, or whose spouse (if a
3 member of the household) was sixty-five years of age or over,
4 during a calendar year in which real property taxes, rent and
5 inflation costs were due and payable or was a widow or widower
6 and was fifty years of age or over during a calendar year or
7 part thereof in which real property taxes, rent and inflation
8 costs were due and payable, or was a permanently disabled person
9 eighteen years of age or over during a calendar year or part
10 thereof in which real property taxes, rent and inflation costs
11 were due and payable. For the purposes of this act the term
12 "widow" or "widower" shall mean the surviving wife or the
13 surviving husband, as the case may be, of a deceased individual
14 and who has not remarried except as provided in subsection (c)
15 and (d) of section 4 of this act. For the purposes of this act
16 the term "permanently disabled person" shall mean a person who
17 is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity by
18 reason of any medically determinable physical or mental
19 impairment which can be expected to continue indefinitely,
20 except as provided in subsection (c) and (d) of section 4 of
21 this act.
22 * * *
23 Section 4. Property Tax; Rent Rebate and Inflation Cost.--
24 * * *
25 (d) If a homestead is owned or rented and occupied for only
26 a portion of a year or if a claim is filed by an estate on
27 behalf of an individual who died during the year, or if a
28 homestead is owned or rented in part by a person who does not
29 meet the qualifications for a claimant, exclusive of any
30 interest owned or leased by a claimant's spouse, or if the
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1 claimant is a widow or widower who remarries, or if the claimant
2 is a permanently disabled person who is no longer disabled, the
3 department shall apportion the real property taxes or rent in
4 accordance with the period or degree of ownership or leasehold
5 or eligibility [of the claimant] in determining the amount of
6 rebate for which a claimant is eligible. A claimant who receives
7 public assistance from the Department of Public Welfare shall
8 not be eligible for rent rebate in lieu of property taxes, or an
9 inflation dividend during those months within which he receives
10 public assistance.
11 * * *
12 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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