MOULTRIE, Ga. — The Moultrie City Council will offer a tax rebate for elderly homeowners, paid for by federal coronavirus reimbursements.

The city has received about $720,000 under the federal CARES Act, passed last year in response to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, City Manager Pete Dillard told council members Tuesday night.

The council voted to use that money to provide a 50% rebate on city taxes to taxpayers who met certain criteria:

• The property owner must apply for the rebate. 

• The property owner must be over 65 years of age. Proof of age will be required, such as a birth certificate or driver’s license. If the property is owned by more than one person, only one of them must be over 65 to qualify.

• The owner lives on the property for which they’re getting the rebate. Owners of multiple properties will receive the rebate only for the property where they live.

• They must have already paid their 2020 property taxes.

The rebate will apply only to the city portion of the homeowner’s property tax.

Because the CARES Act funding is a one-time payment to the city, the rebates will also be a one-time event, Dillard said. 

The council asked Dillard to bring an application form to the Jan. 19 council meeting for their approval. After that approval, the city manager said he hopes to receive applications and process them in late January and February and to distribute them in March.