State Senator Andrew Maynard
May 6, 2009
Maynard Leads Senate in Making Tax Exemption Process Simpler for Disabled Vets
Would remove requirement for annual disability filing
State Senator Andrew Maynard (D-Stonington), co-chair of the General Assembly’s Select Committee of Veterans’ Affairs, today led the State Senate in approving bipartisan legislation to simplify the process for disabled veterans to receive a local property tax exemption.
Under current law, disabled veterans under the age of 65 must annually submit a letter to their town tax assessor from the federal Department of Veterans’ Affairs verifying their disability in order to qualify for their local property tax exemption.
This bill eliminates the requirement that a veteran under age 65 claiming the veterans' disabled property tax exemption provide annual proof of his or her disability to the town assessor. Under the bill, a veteran who submits initial proof of his or her disability rating, as determined by the federal Veterans' Administration, is required to submit proof and reestablish eligibility in subsequent years only if their rating is modified.
“Last fall, a change in the federal computer system left many veterans in Connecticut scrambling to provide their town tax assessors with proof of their disability,” said Senator Maynard. “Forms that were previously automatically provided instead had to be requested, and many veterans feared that they would miss out on a credit that is provided to them because of their honorable service in our Armed Forces. This legislation relieves our veterans of this requirement and removes an undue hardship from those veterans who live with service-related disability.”
The legislation, approved unanimously by consent in the Senate, now moves to the state House of Representatives for consideration.
The 2009 regular legislative session adjourns on June 3.
|
Senator Maynard’s |
Listing of Senator Maynard’s recent press releases and a Press Kit with official head shots and bio. |
Press Aide Jaclyn Falkowski |
