Bill Text: NJ S1539 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Authorizes proportional property tax exemption for honorably discharged veterans having service-connected permanent disability; extends eligibility to veterans suffering from mental illness; establishes eligibility of property owned by disabled veteran with surviving partner for exemption.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-10 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee [S1539 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S1539-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Authorizes proportional property tax exemption for honorably discharged veterans having service-connected permanent disability; extends eligibility to veterans suffering from mental illness; establishes eligibility of property owned by disabled veteran with surviving partner for exemption.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the disabled veterans' property tax exemption, amending and supplementing P.L.1948, c.259.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 1 of P.L.1948, c.259 (C.54:4-3.30) is amended to read as follows:
1. a. The dwelling house and the lot or curtilage whereon the same is erected, of any citizen and resident of this State, now or hereafter honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances, from active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States, who has been or shall be declared by the United States Department of [Veterans'] Veterans Affairs, its predecessor, or its successor to have a service-connected permanent disability from paraplegia, sarcoidosis, hemiplegia, or osteochondritis [resulting in permanent loss of the use of both legs, or permanent paralysis of both legs and lower parts of the body, or from hemiplegia and has permanent paralysis of one leg and one arm or either side of the body] or, resulting from injury to the spinal cord, skeletal structure, or brain or from disease of the spinal cord not resulting from any form of syphilis; or from [total] blindness; or from amputation [of both arms or both legs, or both hands or both feet, or the combination of a hand and a foot] affecting one or more extremities; or from other service-connected permanent disability, including, but not limited to, mental illness [declared by the United States Veterans Administration or its successor to be a total or 100% permanent disability], [and] not so evaluated solely because of hospitalization or surgery and recuperation, sustained through enemy action, or accident, or resulting from disease contracted while in such active service, shall be exempt from taxation, on proper claim made therefor, in proportion to such person's percentage of service-connected permanent disability, up to and including 100 percent permanent disability, as determined and declared by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or its predecessor or successor, and such exemption shall be in addition to any other exemption of such person's real and personal property which now is or hereafter shall be prescribed or allowed by the Constitution or by law but no taxpayer shall be allowed more than one exemption under this act.
b. (1) The surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner of any such citizen and resident of this State, who at the time of death was entitled to the exemption provided under this act, shall be entitled, on proper claim made therefor, to the same exemption as the deceased had, during the surviving spouse's widowhood or widowerhood, as the case may be, or until such time as the as the surviving civil union partner enters into a new civil union pursuant to R.S.37:1-1 et seq. and P.L.2006, c.103 (C.37:1-28 et al.), or until such time as the surviving domestic partner establishes a new domestic partnership pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-4) or remarries, and while the surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner remains a resident of this State, for the time that the surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner is the legal owner thereof and actually occupies the said dwelling house or any other dwelling house thereafter acquired.
(2) The surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner of any citizen and resident of this State who was honorably discharged and, after the citizen and resident's death, is declared to have suffered a service-connected disability as provided in subsection a. of this section, shall be entitled, on proper claim made therefor, to the same exemption the deceased would have become eligible for. The exemption shall continue during the surviving spouse's widowhood or widowerhood, as the case may be, or until such time as the surviving civil union partner enters into a new civil union pursuant to R.S.37:1-1 et seq. and P.L.2006, c.103 (C.37:1-28 et al.), or until such time as the surviving domestic partner establishes a new domestic partnership pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-4) or remarries, and while the surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner remains a resident of this State, for the time that the surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner is the legal owner thereof and actually occupies the dwelling house or any other dwelling house thereafter acquired.
c. The surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner of any citizen and resident of this State, who died in active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States, shall be entitled, on proper claim made therefor, to an exemption from taxation on the dwelling house and lot or curtilage whereon the same is erected, during the surviving spouse's widowhood or widowerhood, as the case may be, or until such time as the surviving civil union partner enters into a new civil union pursuant to R.S.37:1-1 et seq. and P.L.2006, c.103 (C.37:1-28 et al.), or until such time as the surviving domestic partner establishes a new domestic partnership pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-4) or remarries, and while the surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner remains a resident of this State, for the time that the surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner is the legal owner thereof and actually occupies the said dwelling or any other dwelling house thereafter acquired.
d. The surviving spouse of any citizen and resident of this State who died prior to January 10, 1972, that being the effective date of P.L.1971, c.398, and whose circumstances were such that, had said law become effective during the deceased's lifetime, the deceased would have become eligible for the exemption granted under this section as amended by said law, shall be entitled, on proper claim made therefor, to the same exemption as the deceased would have become eligible for upon the dwelling house and lot or curtilage occupied by the deceased at the time of death, during the surviving spouse's widowhood or widowerhood, as the case may be, and while a resident of this State, for the time that the surviving spouse is the legal owner thereof and actually occupies the said dwelling house on the premises to be exempted.
e. Nothing in this act shall be intended to include paraplegia or hemiplegia resulting from locomotor ataxia or other forms of syphilis of the central nervous system, or from chronic alcoholism, or to include other forms of disease resulting from the veteran's own misconduct which may produce signs and symptoms similar to those resulting from paraplegia, osteochondritis, or hemiplegia.
(cf: P.L.2019, c.413, s.1)
2. Section 2 of P.L.1948, c.259 (C.54:4-3.31) is amended to read as follows:
2. All exemptions from taxation under P.L.1948, c.259 (C.54:4-3.30 et seq.) shall be allowed by the assessor upon the filing with him of a claim in writing under oath, made by or on behalf of the person claiming the same, showing the right to the exemption, briefly describing the property for which exemption is claimed and having annexed thereto a certificate of the claimant's honorable discharge or release under honorable circumstances, from active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States and a certificate from the United States Department of [Veterans'] Veterans Affairs, its predecessor, or its successor, certifying to a service-connected disability of such claimant of the character described in section 1 of P.L.1948, c.259 (C.54:4-3.30). In the case of a claim by [a] the surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner of such veteran, the claimant shall establish in writing under oath that the claimant is the owner of the legal title to the premises on which exemption is claimed; that the claimant occupies the dwelling house on said premises as the claimant's legal residence in this State; that the veteran shall have been declared, either during the veteran's lifetime or after the veteran's death, by the United States Department of [Veterans'] Veterans Affairs to have or to have had a service-connected disability of a character described in this act, or, in the case of a claim for an exemption under subsection c. of section 1 of P.L.1948, c.259 (C.54:4-3.30), that the veteran shall have been declared to have died in active service; that the veteran was entitled to an exemption provided for in this act, except for an exemption under paragraph (2) of subsection b. and subsection c. of section 1 hereof, at the time of death; and that the claimant is a resident of this State and has not remarried , has not entered into a new civil union pursuant to R.S.37:1-1 et seq. and P.L.2006, c.103 (C.37:1-28 et al.), or has not entered into a new domestic partnership pursuant to section 4 of P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-4). Such exemptions shall be allowed and prorated by the assessor for the remainder of any taxable year from the date the claimant shall have acquired title to the real property intended to be exempt by this act. Where a portion of a multiple-family building or structure occupied by the claimant is the subject of such exemption, the assessor shall aggregate the assessment on the lot or curtilage and building or structure and allow an exemption of that percentage of the aggregate assessment as the value of the portion of the building or structure occupied by the claimant bears to the value of the entire building or structure.
(cf: P.L.2019, c.413, s.2)
3. Section 3 of P.L.1948, c.259 (C.54:4-3.32) is amended to read as follows:
3. The governing body of each municipality, by appropriate resolution, may return all taxes collected on property which would have been exempt had proper claim in writing been made therefor in the manner provided by P.L.1948, c.259 (C.54:4-3.30 et seq.). The governing body of each municipality, by appropriate resolution, may also return to the veteran or the veteran's surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner all property tax payments made since the time of the veteran's actual disability or since the time of the veteran's death. No refunds shall be made under this section for any year or portion thereof prior to the effective date of P.L.1948, c.259 (C.54:4-3.30 et seq.).
(cf: P.L.2007, c.317, s.3)
4. (New section) As used in P.L.1948, c.259 (C.54:4-3.30 et seq.):
"Mental illness" means a mental disorder classified within the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), including, but not limited to, anxiety disorders, cognitive disorders, adjustment orders, schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
"Surviving civil union partner" means the surviving member of a civil union entered into pursuant to R.S.37:1-1 et seq. and P.L.2006, c.103 (C.37:1-28 et al.).
"Surviving domestic partner"
means the surviving member of a domestic partnership established pursuant to
section 4 of P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-4).
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill revises current law regarding the property tax exemption provided to totally disabled, honorably-discharged veterans who incur a 100 percent service-related disability during their service in the United States Armed Forces.
Proportional Property Tax Exemption
Under current law, veterans who are not 100 percent totally and permanently disabled are not eligible to receive a proportional property tax exemption. This bill allows all honorably-discharged veterans who have a service-related disability rating resulting from their service in the United States Armed Forces, including those who receive a 100 percent disability determination, to receive a proportional property tax exemption in an amount equal to the degree of their service-connected, permanent disability, as determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). A veteran who was determined by the VA to be 100 percent totally and permanently disabled due to a service-related disability would continue to receive the full property tax exemption under the current exemption statute.
Broadening of Eligibility
The bill extends eligibility for the property tax exemption to veterans granted a disability rating due to mental illness.
The bill broadens the eligibility criteria for the property tax exemption granted to surviving civil union partners and domestic partners of disabled veterans. The bill extends the property tax exemption to the surviving civil union partner or domestic partner of a disabled veteran until such time as the surviving partner enters into a new civil union, establishes a new domestic partnership, or remarries. The bill also allows the surviving civil union partner or domestic partner to receive the property tax exemption when a disability declaration is granted after the veteran's death.
Under current law, only the surviving spouse of a veteran who at the time of death was entitled to the exemption is entitled to receive the same exemption. This bill provides that an eligible surviving spouse, surviving civil union partner, or surviving domestic partner of a deceased disabled veteran, after filing a proper claim with the municipal tax collector, shall be exempt from all property taxation in the succeeding year.
