Who is affected by the homestead/farmstead exclusion? All property owners residing in the
State College Area School District. This applies to school district property taxes only. Please
check with your municipality to see if there is an exemption for municipal taxes.

What is a homestead/farmstead exclusion? Act 1 of 2006, also known as the Taxpayer Relief
Act, provides district residents with an opportunity for real estate tax relief through a
homestead/farmstead exclusion. Funded by gambling revenues provided by the state, the district
will exclude from real estate taxation a uniform dollar amount of the assessed value of homestead
and farmstead properties that have been approved.

What is an approved homestead/farmstead property? Taxpayers must apply for approval by
completing and submitting an application to the Centre County Board of Assessment. An
approved homestead/farmstead property, therefore, is a taxpayer’s primary residence that has
been granted homestead/farmstead status by the Centre County Board of Assessment based on the
application submitted. Please note that an individual cannot have more than one primary
residence at any time.

If I have a homestead and/or farmstead but have not applied for an exclusion, how do I
apply? Applications are available at the Centre County Assessment Office during normal
working hours. Anyone interested in completing an application can contact the office and request
an application or visit Centre County’s website to print an application. The assessment office is
located at:

If I apply now, will my 2010 tax bill be adjusted to reflect the homestead/farmstead
exclusion and reduction in taxes? The deadline for filing a completed application that would
reduce your 2010 school district property tax bill was March 1st. A taxpayer may contact the
Centre County Tax Assessment Office at any time to obtain an application. For applications
submitted after the deadline, the reduction will be effective for the following tax year, in this case
2011. As required by Act 1 of 2006, the district sends the required notices to eligible property
owners by December 31st each year.

Do I have any responsibilities under the homestead and/or farmstead exclusion? Once you
have received official notification that your application has been approved, you must notify the
Assessment Office if the use of your property changes to an unqualified property. For example, if
you rent your home, rent a portion of your home, or elect to use an area of the dwelling for
commercial purposes, your approved exclusion may be lost or pro-rated for partial use of the
dwelling. Any change of use must be reported to the Centre County Assessment Office within 45
days. Also, remember that a change in ownership requires the new owners to complete and
submit an application to the Assessment Office in order to have the primary residence approved
for a homestead/farmstead exclusion. The homestead/farmstead exclusion does not automatically
transfer if a property is sold. New owners should contact the Assessment Office after their closing
to begin their application process.

How is the homestead/farmstead exclusion calculated? The amount of the
homestead/farmstead exclusion is calculated by dividing the total gaming funds received by the
number of approved homesteads/farmsteads certified by the Centre County Board of Assessment.
The amount of the exclusion has the potential of varying each year based upon the amount of
gaming funds provided to the district and the number of approved homesteads/farmsteads located
in the district.

Does State College Area School District allow installment payments of the school tax due on
properties? Yes. You are offered an optional installment plan if you previously applied for and
were granted a homestead and/or farmstead exclusion. If you are eligible for the installment plan,
the July 1st tax notice you received will include a tax notice along with coupons to make
installments. Please note that the installment payment plan is optional. Taxpayers should review
their specific situation to determine whether to pay once or remit their payments using the
installment plan. Property owners who are not homestead or farmstead eligible do not qualify for
installments. If you elect to pay by the installment option, please note that one requirement of the
plan is that you forfeit the 2% discount.

Why do I have to forfeit my discount, if I pay using the installment payment plan? Due to
the increased amount of record keeping required to authorize and administer a payment plan, the
legislation determined in Act 1 of 2006 that school districts entering into installment payment
plans were to eliminate the discount on payment plan participants.

What if my taxes are escrowed? Although the installment method is available for escrowed
properties that are homestead and/or farmstead approved, we have received survey responses
indicating that the escrow companies intend to remit the full tax due before August 31st to qualify
for payment at discount. We expect escrow companies to follow the same payment procedures
used in prior years. Please consult with your escrow company to confirm its intentions to pay at
discount. If applicable, a copy of your tax notice was provided to your escrow agent on your
behalf. An escrow mailing will be noted on the face of the enclosed tax notice. If your escrow
agent will be paying your tax notice, please retain the enclosed tax notice for your records and
allow the escrow agent to remit payment of the tax due. If no escrow comment appears on your
tax notice but your taxes are escrowed, it is your responsibility to forward the tax notice to them
for payment. To streamline this process in future years, please ask your escrow agent to request in
writing your tax notice from the tax office. This will ensure that a copy of your tax notice is
automatically forwarded for payment on your behalf.

Can I make payments on my county, township, and school district bills? At this time, the
only taxing body that has authorized installment payments for its regular annual tax notice is the
State College Area School District. Installment payment plans will not be authorized for
supplemental bills that are periodically issued by the Centre County Tax Assessment Office.

Can I pay by ACH or credit cards?
At this time, the local tax offices are not able to offer these types of payment options for school
district real estate taxes. Please check back with the tax office at a later date to determine whether
payment options have been expanded as an increased level of customer service.