The owners of 72 percent of the 7,092 residential properties in Decatur have a homestead exemption with the city in 2013. The remaining 28 percent of residential properties do not have homestead exemptions. There are a many possible reasons why no homestead exemption is claimed for a residential property: it could be rented out, vacant, under development, owned by a company or bank, or the parcel may be too small to build a house (such as a rear or side lot that is just land). Either the owner doesn't live at the property, it is not his or her primary residence, or he or she hasn't applied for the homestead exemption.
Of the residents who do have a homestead exemption, most of them just have the basic homestead exemption, meaning that they do not qualify for our age-based or income-based exemptions.
Six percent of residential property owners qualify for an age-based exemption (meaning they have reached the age of at least 65), but do not qualify for exemptions that requires a specific income in order to qualify. Eight percent of residents qualify for exemptions that are based both on age and an income limit.