Expanded Property Tax Relief for Disabled Vets

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In a showing of ongoing support for veterans and military personnel, state Rep. Steven J. Santarsiero, D-Bucks, today joined other area lawmakers at a news conference to announce legislation that would expedite the process that exempts disabled veterans from paying real estate property taxes.

Santarsiero said the exemptions discussed at the news conference apply to veterans and military personnel who have become permanently disabled as a result of their service to the U.S.

"While a program already exists to exempt disabled veterans from paying property taxes, veterans often must wait as long as a year and a half before learning whether they will be exempt," Santarsiero said. "This can be an eternity for veterans and their families who must pay for expensive medicine and equipment, while making ends meet and paying other bills. My proposal would immediately suspend property tax payments for disabled veterans as soon as they apply for the program."

Currently, disabled veterans can receive a property tax exemption through the Disabled Veterans’ Real Estate Tax Exemption program, provided they make no more than $79,050 annually. Veterans who apply are placed on a waiting list while the state Veterans Commission, which oversees the program, processes their applications to determine whether they are eligible for an exemption.

Santarsiero's proposal would provide an immediate suspension of property tax payments for any veteran while the commission reviews the application. He said veterans who meet the program guidelines would be exempt from all future property taxes and those suspended during the certification process. Ineligible veterans would be responsible for paying the property taxes suspended during the application process, but would not incur any penalties or have to pay interest accrued during the suspension.

U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Murphy and state Rep. Bryan Lentz, D-Delaware, also discussed their efforts to ensure that disabled veterans and spouses of military personnel killed in action receive property tax exemptions.

"Easing the burden of our brave men and women who must readjust to civilian life when they return home is a responsibility that I take very seriously," said Murphy, D-8th District. "This legislation will ensure that vets who have served and sacrificed for their country receive the benefits they’ve earned as soon as they get home."

Lentz has introduced a bill that would further the state's current Disabled Veterans’ Real Estate Tax Exemption program by removing the need provision requiring disabled veterans to provide proof of their annual income and expenses every two years to demonstrate financial need in order to retain the exemption. The exemption would also pass on to the surviving spouse upon the death of an eligible veteran.

The Disabled Veterans’ Real Estate Tax Exemption program exempts permanently disabled veterans from paying property taxes on residences they occupy if they are blind, amputees, paralyzed or otherwise declared 100 percent permanently disabled as a result of a service-related injury, and if they meet the need provision.