DARKE COUNTY — Are you receiving the Owner-Occupancy Credit on your real estate taxes? Carol Ginn, Darke County Auditor, is announcing that homeowners of residential and agricultural real estate properties who did not receive Owner-Occupancy Credit on their 2019 tax statements have until the last day in December (12-31-2020) to file an application for the reduction.

To determine if you received the Owner-Occupancy Credit, check your tax statement. If an amount appears on the Owner-Occupancy Credit line, the reduction has been granted. No yearly renewal is required unless you moved or sold the property.

To qualify for the reduction, you must own and live in the home as of Jan. 1, 2020. The reduction will be allowed on the home, garage, and one acre or less, regardless of acres owned.

Manufactured homes (not taxed as real estate), rental properties, and bare land are not eligible. However, owners of manufactured homes taxed like real estate and owned by the occupants are eligible to apply. Also, homeowners who have constructed new homes last year would be able to apply if they moved into their homes before Jan. 1, 2020.

Homeowners who did not receive the Owner-Occupancy Credit but are eligible to apply may obtain an application at the Darke County Auditor’s Office, Courthouse in Greenville, or from the website www.darkecountyrealestate.org under Forms and select DTE105C.

If more information is needed, please call (937) 547-7311 or 547-7317 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays.