HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Reno County Commissioners approved a resolution providing a new policy and procedure for giving out property tax relief for homesteads destroyed or substantially destroyed by natural disaster.

The decision will only give tax abatements when a natural disaster declaration has been made. If that includes duplexes or other multiplexes, they would only give abatements to the section where the owner lives.

This issue came up when a couple who lost their home to fire back in January wanted property tax relief much like commissioners gave to those who lost their homes to the wildfires last March. But, those homes destroyed were part of a natural disaster declaration by Gov. Sam Brownback.

Commissioners turned down those property owners and approved the appraiser’s recommendation to deny tax relief for another couple in the county because damage to their property didn’t meet the statutory requirements of meeting or exceeding 50 percent of the total value.