Colorado's Curious Management of its Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption, & the "Unemployability" Disqualification (updated May 12, 2021)

Five years ago I wrote about the curious sleight of hand employed to sell the voters on a worthy Colorado constitutional amendment but then the enabling legislation delivered a greatly watered-down statute. 

I backed off the subject after the United Veterans Committee (now United Veterans Coalition) made clear its nonsupport at that time. Understandably, it was best to avoid conflict and not mess up the carefully-crafted UVC legislative agenda. Happily, I understand that UVC has a related bill to increase the exemption as one of the 2021 objectives. Unhappily, I feel its cost of over $19M leaves no chance of success and UVC and the bill's sponsor might instead have pushed for Gold Star Wives and/or TDIU disabled veterans.

I refer here to Referendum E from back in 2006. Our legislature generously proposed a constitutional amendment (Article X Section 3.5) to provide a small partial property tax exemption to totally disabled veterans. Note the wording: "totally disabled veterans." Let's follow that bouncing ball of how definitions of  "totally disabled veterans" kept a-changing – and to finally covered as few vets as possible:

Here is the full text of Referendum E to amend the state constitution:

"AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 3.5 OF ARTICLE X OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO, CONCERNING THE EXTENSION OF THE EXISTING PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR QUALIFYING SENIORS TO ANY UNITED STATES MILITARY VETERAN WHO IS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT PERMANENTLY DISABLED DUE TO A SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITY.”

This is important: Note the "one hundred percent permanently disabled" and the separate phrase, "due to a service-connected disability." Here in Colorado those words are now interpreted to be one kind of totally disabled veteran but could be read to refer to two kinds. That's right. VA has two different types of totally and permanently disabled veterans. "TDIU" for total disability for individual unemployability" and 100% service connected disabled for vets with a disability, or group of disabilities when added together, equalling 100%. 

Here is how the Legislative Council told us via the Blue Book what we were voting for:

"Veterans are rated 100-percent permanently disabled when a mental or physical injury makes it impossible for the average person to hold a job and the disability is lifelong."

An overwhelming 85% of Colorado voters approved this worthy benefit for those who served our state and nation. But then the lawmakers themselves got involved and took a fire hose to the benefit, watering it down quite a bit.

When Denver finally enacted legislation for the mechanics of Article X section 3.5 to work, Referendum E ended up much less broad than what we approved. The number of qualified recipients of the benefit was cut by more than half to protect budget resources for other projects.

Here is the actual text that finally delivered Referendum E to us as law:

"(3.5) “Qualifying disabled veteran” means an individual who has served on active duty in the United States armed forces, including a member of the Colorado National Guard who has been ordered into the active military service of the United States, has been separated therefrom under honorable conditions, and has established a service-connected disability that has been rated by the federal department of veterans affairs as a one hundred percent permanent disability through disability retirement benefits pursuant to a law or regulation administered by the department."

And next, here is the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs form for applicants, where there are two portions describing "totally disabled veterans."

"A “qualifying disabled veteran” is a person who meets each of the following requirements
- § 39-3-202(3.5), C.R.S . A “qualifying disabled veteran” is a person who meets each of the following requirements - § 39-3-202(3.5), C.R.S.• The veteran sustained a service-connected disability while serving on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States. This includes members of the National Guard and Reserves who sustained their injury during a period in which they were called to active duty. • The veteran was honorably discharged.• The federal Department of Veterans Affairs has rated the veteran’s service-connected disability as a one hundred percent permanent disability through disability retirement benefits pursuant to a law or regulation administered by the department"

– and from the back page – 

"2. DISABLED VETERAN STATUS: To qualify, both questions must be true and you must attach a copy of your VA award letter verifying that you have been given a permanent disability rating by the VA." 

CDMVA web site:

"The Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption is available to applicants who sustained a service-connected disability rated by the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs as a 100 percent permanent disability through disability retirement benefits pursuant to a law or regulation administered by the Department, the United States Department of Homeland Security, or the Department of the Army, Navy or Air Force. VA unemployability awards do not meet the requirement for determining an applicant’s eligibility." 

So, after all this reading, do you see where the disabled veteran property tax exemption got watered down by more than half? It was through the disqualification of veterans rated totally and permanently disabled by VA for "unemployability." Tossed into the program are the words, "VA unemployability awards do not meet the requirement for determining an applicant’s eligibility."  Note that these TDIU people aren't veterans who are out of work, but instead vets who've been evaluated as being physically unable to ever work. And are monitored to make sure that remains the case.

Side note: the constitution included as eligible veterans those who were medically retired by their service as 100% disabled. The fourteen words describing these vets were left out of the law until 2016, when HB16-1444 brought the tax legislation into accord with the constitution.

(Here is an analysis I prepared in 2016 when I last worked on disabled veteran unemployability tax exemption issues.)

VA "unemployability" is its 100% disability rating for vets with at least one 60% service-connected issue and whose overall disabilities are so severe, so far beyond the scope for which VA assigned the 60%, that any meaningful employment is impossible. VA has other rating of "catastrophically disabled" but even when a vet is rated both unemployable and catastrophically disabled, that doesn't meet CDMVA's redefinition of Referendum E also is awarded to vets with at least a 60% service-connected disability:

"Veterans are considered to be Catastrophically Disabled when they have a severely disabling injury, disorder or disease that permanently compromises their ability to carry out the activities of daily living. The disability must be of such a degree that the Veteran requires personal or mechanical assistance to leave home or bed, or require constant supervision to avoid physical harm to themselves or others."

 Let's note that VA has two kinds of unemployability awards. The first is temporary or "IU," meant for periods of uncertainty about recovery or rehabilitation after surgery or illness, and the second is permanent (TDIU) for exactly that – permanent disability for life. TDIU veterans not only are medically determined to be unable to work, they are also carefully evaluated for that situation by the Veterans Benefit Administration before given the rating. Finally, they are carefully monitored by VA to check that they remain unable to work and both Social Security and IRS records are checked. 

Because Colorado references the VA totally disabled rating everywhere, we should look at how VA itself describes a totally disabled veteran. Read carefully and compare to Colorado's absolute disqualification of TDIU vets from the Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption. Here is the VA Office of Inspector General's very appropriate definition:

"Veterans are considered to have total disability when they have a 100 percent disability rating due to service-connected disabilities or if their service-connected disabilities make them unemployable. For the total disability to be permanent, the law requires the disability to be “based upon an impairment reasonably certain to continue throughout life."

"The Veterans Benefits Administration Inadequately Supported Permanent and Total Disability Decisions",

    VA OIG 19-00227-226, Page ii, September 10, 2020

Clearly,  veterans with total disability, including TDIU, is what voters thought they were approving by votes for Referendum E back in 2006. So where did the Colorado prohibition of unemployability for the benefit come from?

I asked CDMVA and they said ask DOLA. I asked DOLA and in 2014 was told "some legislators" wanted that limitation. Legislators. Not the voters. Legislators introduced (snuck in!)  their own idea of
disqualification into what voters more broadly approved as our constitutional amendment.

My view: Veterans with a 100% disability rating, including TDIU, were provided the small tax exemption via Referendum E when we voted approval. TDIU eligibility should be corrected by legislative action. I do not favor broadening the Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption below the 100% disability level as the impact would be far too burdensome on taxpayers. 

Further, veterans often have disabilities common among folks their own age group, such as COPD, diabetes, hypertension and hearing loss. It would be unfair to a taxpayer with COPD to pay full property taxes while the veteran neighbor with a 50% COPD disability rating doesn't. The obvious need for tax relief is for survivors and the totally disabled veteran! Full stop.

Conclusion: A few legislators hijacked Referendum E and Article X Section 3.5 of the constitution, doing decades of harm to a large number of otherwise qualified Colorado totally disabled veterans and their survivors.

Time to set this right! What say you – Is 2022 too soon?

COLORADO DISABLED VETERAN PROPERTY TAX DENIED TO ALL VA TDIU* VETS - background & source documents

 * Total Disability Individual Unemployability=100% disabled vets denied Colorado's property tax exemption for 100% disabled vets

November 27, 2017

To: All Colorado officials and citizens respecting our state’s constitution

Problem: Most veterans rated 100% permanently and totally disabled by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs are refused Colorado’s disabled veteran partial property tax exemption provided for in the state constitution, Article X Section 3.5. Voters acted to provide them the exemption in 2006 but state officials refuse.

Discussion: THE EXPRESSED WILL OF THE PEOPLE OF COLORADO IN THEIR APPROVAL IN 2006 OF REFERENDUM E AS EXPLAINED BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL FOR ARTICLE X SECTION 3.5 OF THE STATE CONSTITUTION HAS BEEN ABUSED. The state constitution provides that the will of the people is paramount. That will was expressed in 2006 when the voters of Colorado approved by a margin of four-to-one amending the constitution in 2006 with Referendum E.

The Legislative Council submitted the ballet explanation to the voters as part of its constitutional duty to inform the electorate as per the constitution: “A fair and impartial analysis of each measure, which shall include a summary and the major arguments both for and against the measure, and which may include any other information that would assist understanding the purpose and effect of the measure.”

What voters were informed about by Legislative Council, and approved, and what the Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (CMDVM) have proven to be two greatly different things with CDMVN prohibiting veterans rated by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs as 100% permanently and totally disabled via TDIU (total disability individual unemployability.)

Affected are over 6,000 veterans totally disabled solely due to military service.

The “Colorado Property Tax Reduction for Disabled Veterans Referendum,” also known as Referendum E, was on the November 7, 2006 ballot in Colorado as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, where it was approved with a margin of four-to-one. The measure extended a property tax exemption for qualified senior citizens to all U.S. military veterans living in Colorado who are 100% disabled due to a service-related disability.

There are therefore two fundamental qualifications for veterans rated 100% permanently and totally disabled (TDIU):
      a: Legislative Counsel specifically described a veteran disabled and unable to work for the rest of his/her life in the language voters approved in Referendum E.
      b: TDIU veterans also qualify on the clear language in Article X Section 3.5 describing veterans rated by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs as 100% permanently and totally disabled, especially when referring to 38 CFR 4.16 - "Total disability ratings for compensation based on unemployability of the individual."

Here is the exact information provided by Legislative Counsel on Referendum E, upon which it was approved by the people:

COLORADO PROPERTY TAX REDUCTION FOR DISABLED VETERANS, REFERENDUM E (2006) THE LANGUAGE SHALL APPEAR ON THE BALLOT AS:

“ AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 3.5 OF ARTICLE X OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF COLORADO, CONCERNING THE EXTENSION OF THE EXISTING PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR QUALIFYING SENIORS TO ANY UNITED STATES MILITARY VETERAN WHO IS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT PERMANENTLY DISABLED DUE TO A SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITY.

How does the program work? Homeowners pay property taxes based on the value of their home and the tax rate set by the local governments where they live. Referendum E reduces the taxable value of a qualified veteran's home by one-half of the first $200,000 of the home's value, thereby lowering property taxes owed on the home. The state legislature can adjust the $200,000 amount to either increase or decrease the benefit from Referendum E in future years. Currently, the state offers the same property tax reduction to homeowners age 65 and over who have lived in their homes for at least ten years. A qualifying veteran who is also eligible for a reduction in property taxes as a senior cannot claim both reductions. The dollar amount of the tax reduction will vary among homeowners depending upon the local property tax rate, the home's value, and the amount of the exemption. Table 1 provides examples of how Referendum E reduces property taxes based on the average statewide property tax rate and the current exemption level.

Who qualifies for the tax reduction? Homeowners who have served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces and are rated 100-percent permanently disabled by the federal government due to a service-connected disability qualify for the tax reduction in Referendum E. Colorado National Guard members injured while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces also qualify. Veterans are rated 100-percent permanently disabled when a mental or physical injury makes it impossible for the average person to hold a job and the disability is lifelong. Nationally, less than one percent of veterans have a 100-percent permanent disability rating. About 2,200 veterans are expected to qualify.

Please note the highlighted sections of the Colorado state constitution below and the supreme authority of the people, and of a referendum amending the constitution.

Solution: Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, and Colorado Department of Local Affairs must extend the exemption to veterans rated TDIU.

Conclusion: Colorado voters approved specific language recognizing as a totally disabled veteran a veteran rated by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs as 100% permanently and totally and disabled, noting the wording provided by Legislative

Counsel of such a veteran being unable to work for the remainder of his/her lifetime. It is of note that all veterans rated by VA as TDIU (total disability for individual unemployability) are to work and forfeit their disability if they elect to do so regardless of their injuries.

The federal law governing TDIU and upon which our constitution states CMDVM is bound, states, “It is the established policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs that all veterans who are unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation by reason of service-connected disabilities shall be rated totally disabled.”

Colorado’s taxing agencies disregard what the people voted for and unlawfully limit the property tax exemption by refusing TDIU veterans.

The people voted to modify the constitution and extend the disabled property tax exemption to veterans rated permanently TDIU. That vote must be honored by the legislature and our state agencies.

Respectfully,

Wesley Carter

www.codisabledvet.blogspot.com
Attached:
1. Portions Colorado Constitution
2. Source documents

Colorado's Legislative Counsel Needs to Explain Referendum E and the People's Wishes to State VA Officials

Dear Legislative Counsel,

We ask your assistance in a constitutional issue rooted in language submitted to voters by the Legislative Counsel.

In 2006 your department provided detailed wording for Referendum E for voter approval, explaining aspects of disabled veterans and the proposed partial property tax exemption.

Voters were told by LC, in your words, "Veterans are rated 100-percent permanently disabled when a mental or physical injury makes it impossible for the average person to hold a job and the disability is lifelong" and on that basis the people approved amending the Colorado constitution Article X Section 3.5.

Subsequently state agencies acted wrongly to deny veterans unable to work for the rest of their lives due to service-connected issues and rated as such by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs. This is even though it was the clear wish of the people, using the referendum's explanation, that category of veterans was to receive the exemption as described by the Legislative Counsel.​​

​There need be no changes in legislation, but only clarification by LC that it is contrary to the constitution and the people's wishes, and your own wording in the guidance given voters, that veterans rated TDIU (total disability for individual unemployability) be denied their constitutional protections.

Colorado anchors this exemption on the federal VA ratings for disability. Please consider the text, and the very title of the law: 38 CFR 4.16 - "Total disability ratings for compensation based on unemployability of the individual."

To describe Referendum E, you told the voters:

How does the program work? Homeowners pay property taxes based on the value of their home and the tax rate set by the local governments where they live. Referendum E reduces the taxable value of a qualified veteran's home by one-half of the first $200,000 of the home's value, thereby lowering property taxes owed on the home. The state legislature can adjust the $200,000 amount to either increase or decrease the benefit from Referendum E in future years. Currently, the state offers the same property tax reduction to homeowners age 65 and over who have lived in their homes for at least ten years. A qualifying veteran who is also eligible for a reduction in property taxes as a senior cannot claim both reductions.

The dollar amount of the tax reduction will vary among homeowners depending upon the local property tax rate, the home's value, and the amount of the exemption. Table 1 provides examples of how Referendum E reduces property taxes based on the average statewide property tax rate and the current exemption level. 

Who qualifies for the tax reduction? Homeowners who have served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces and are rated 100-percent permanently disabled by the federal government due to a service-connected disability qualify for the tax reduction in Referendum E. Colorado National Guard members injured while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces also qualify. Veterans are rated 100-percent permanently disabled when a mental or physical injury makes it impossible for the average person to hold a job and the disability is lifelong. Nationally, less than one percent of veterans have a 100-percent permanent disability rating. About 2,200 veterans are expected to qualify for the property tax reduction in Colorado.

​Please help provide these constitutional protections due Colorado's disabled veterans thru the referendum approved by the people of this state. Exclusion of this group of veterans, termed by the VA as "total disability for individual unemployability"is  clearly contrary to the people's wishes as proposed by the Legislative Counsel.

attached: legislative history

Colorado's Curious Management of its Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption

 • Colorado Legislative Council, in describing the disabled veteran property tax exemption on the 2006 ballot:

"Veterans are rated 100-percent permanently disabled when a mental or physical injury makes it impossible for the average person to hold a job and the disability is lifelong."

• Colorado Division of Veterans Affairs:

VA "unemployability' total and permanent disability awards (TDIU, but only permanent and total) not acceptable for disabled veteran property tax exemption."

• Is there a disconnect somewhere in CDMVA? Are we stuck with this Catch-22 situation? Why does only Colorado treat TDIU differently than VA's other total disability rating (100% schedular?)

Briefing Package – Problems with Colorado's Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption, & Recommended Solutions

Background & source documents

We have summed up the issues with HB07-1251, Referendum E, and Article X Section 3.5 of the Colorado Constitution...CLICK to download the complete briefing packet.

Also quite informative is the legislative history for HB07-1251. CLICK to download that 33-page resource.

VA Unemployability Disability Ratings (TDIU) – a little background for Colorado

There are two kinds of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs– 100% and TDIU; both are total and permanent disability ratings that should be recognized for Colorado's disabled vet property tax exemption – but aren't!

VA has 100% rating for total disability for unemployability...and also total and permanent disability individual unemployability (TDIU) or often in print, just IU.  

The Individual Unemployability Benefit is equal in every way to a 100% Schedular rating. The compensation is 100% and that dollar amount is equal to both ratings.  This VA permanent disability rating of TDIU meet Colorado's constitutional requirements for the disabled veteran property tax exemption.

(Note: VA has a temporary version of 100%, which is not eligible for the exemption as it is temporary, not permanent as the Colorado constitution and HB07-1251 require.)

This is the rating CDMVA should reject, not the permanent TDIU. All TDIU ratings are permanent, unless the veteran’s health improves and VA determines employment is possible.

If the veteran is VA-rated as 100% Schedular, he or she may work at any job they are capable of doing. The TDIU veteran is proven unable to hold "gainful employment." Nationwide, about 330,000 disabled veterans are rated TDIU. The IU veteran completes a yearly VA Form 21-4140 to verify that there has been no employment in the previous year. 

More about TDIU:

If awarded, this benefit allows the veteran to receive the total disability rating if he/she is proven unable to secure any gainful employment but only for reasons of very serious line-of-duty injuries worse than standard VA tables anticipate. Frequently state or VA experts will evaluate veterans using Certified Rehabilitation Specialists.

For TDIU, VA specifies basic disability ratings that reach the following levels:

a) a single service connected disability rated at 60% or more, or but which, in fact, is totally disabling

b) the result of 2 or more service-connected disabilities where the total rating is 70% and at least one disability is 40% or more and, in fact, are totally disabling.

This type of claim is automatically considered by the VA Regional Office whenever the Veteran’s service-connected impairment ratings reach the above levels. 

Should TDIU disabled vets qualify for Colorado's disabled veteran property tax exemption? Yes, we believe so, based on several points:

     1. Referendum E's Blue Book analysis clearly included veterans made unemployable due to line-of-duty injuries, and was overwhelmingly approved by the voters.

"Who qualifies for the tax reduction? Homeowners who have served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces and are rated 100-percent permanently disabled by the federal government due to a service-connected disability qualify for the tax reduction in Referendum E. Colorado National Guard members injured while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces also qualify." 

The Blue Book described totally disabled veterans eligible for the benefit:

• Veterans are rated 100-percent permanently disabled when a line of duty mental or physical injury makes it impossible for the average person to hold a job and the disability is lifelong. 

But note that the same description, those same qualifications can apply to TDIU vets:

• Similarly, veterans are rated TDIU when an unusually severe mental or physical line of duty injury makes it impossible this specific veteran to hold a job and the disability is lifelong. 

 

Nationally, less than one percent of veterans have a 100-percent permanent disability rating. About 2,200 veterans were expected to qualify for the property tax reduction in Colorado.

     2. Article X Section 3.5 in the Colorado constitution describes the qualifying points of a veteran's disability for the tax exemption, and VA Veterans Benefits Administration confirmed that VA's TDIU rating has the same qualifiers:

 "(1.5) For purposes of this section, "disabled veteran" means an individual who has served on active duty in the United States armed forces, including a member of the Colorado national guard who has been ordered into the active military service of the United States, has been separated therefrom under honorable conditions, and has established a service-connected disability that has been rated by the federal department of veterans affairs as one hundred percent permanent disability through disability retirement benefits or a pension pursuant to a law or regulation administered by the department, the department of homeland security, or the department of the army, navy, or air force. 

"Unemployability" VA Total & Permanent Disability Rating (TDIU) for Vets With Line-of-Duty Injuries – Colorado's unique exception

Colorado is unique among US states in distinguishing VA line of duty permanent and total unemployability ratings (TDIU)) from VA's other permanent and total disability schedular rating.

Only Colorado denies TDIU totally and permanently line-of-duty rated vets the state property tax exemption provided in the state constitution's Article X Section 3.5 by somehow considering this VA classification of veterans different than VA's other category of 100% disabled veterans.

No other state in the Union treats TDIU disabled vets differently than 100% schedular vets. To 49 other states, both VA 100% disability ratings are treated the same. The only difference is that TDIU vets are rated so disabled that they are unable to work.

NOTE: PDIU & TDIU have been used interchangeably, especially by older vets like me. TDIU is the current proper VA term.

Legislative History of HB07-1251, statutes to implement Referendum E [Article X Section 3.5 , "Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption"]

I learned more history about the senior and disabled veteran property tax exemption, based on some research conducted in the Capital Thursday morning. Kind folks in the Colorado Legislative Counsel's office provided a.complete history of the evolution of HB07-1251, the statute which implemented Article X Section 3.5 of the constitution, following approval by the electorate of Referendum E. Our next step will be listening to the audio tapes of deliberations.

CLC's Blue Book, the Legislature's "sales brochure" promoting the referendum, described the veterans to be covered by the referendum:

"Who qualifies for the tax reduction? Homeowners who have served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces and are rated 100-percent permanently disabled by the federal government due to a service-connected disability qualify for the tax reduction in Referendum E. Colorado National Guard members injured while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces also qualify. Veterans are rated 100-percent permanently disabled when a mental or physical injury makes it impossible for the average person to hold a job and the disability is lifelong.Nationally, less than one percent of veterans have a 100-percent permanent disability rating. About 2,200 veterans are expected to qualify for the property tax reduction in Colorado."

The first version of HB07-1251's description of qualified veteran was exactly as per Article X Section 3.5 of the constitution as it remains today:

 (1.5) For purposes of this section, "disabled veteran" means an individual who has served on active duty in the United States armed forces, including a member of the Colorado national guard who has been ordered into the active military service of the United States, has been separated therefrom under honorable conditions, and has established a service-connected disability that has been rated by the federal department of veterans affairs as one hundred percent permanent disability through disability retirement benefits or a pension pursuant to a law or regulation administered by the department, the department of homeland security, or the department of the army, navy, or air force. 

The next version of HB07-1251 ("Engrossed" version) made the changes in definition of qualified veteran. Those changes remained static thereafter until signed by the governor.

(3.5) "Qualifying disabled veteran" means an individual who has served on active duty in the United States armed forces, including a member of the Colorado National Guard who has been ordered into the active military service of the United States, has been separated therefrom under honorable conditions, and has established a service-connected disability that has been rated by the United States department of veterans affairs as one hundred percent permanent and total disability pursuant to a law or regulation administered by the department.

(Simply dropped from the final statute was the last phrase of the constitution., "through disability retirement benefits or a pension pursuant to a law or regulation administered by the department, the department of homeland security, or the department of the army, navy, or air force.")

CONCLUSION:
1. In its Blue Book for 2006, the Legislature obviously included, and the electorate approved, Colorado veterans whose disabilities were total, permanent, service-connected and that made veterans unemployable. In the actual wording for Referendum E, however, no specific mention was made of unemployable terms, and still the VA rating for unemployability complies with the referendum's specifics. CdmVA ends up refusing these totally disabled vets the exemption, opposite the people's goal.

2. The Legislature's first pass at legislation also had no reference to employability issues but did specify military permanent and total disability retirements as qualified for the property tax exemption. By the second version (Engrossed) military disability retirements were not mentioned, and that version of the definition was carried into the stature and into effect today.

3. Colorado Division of Veterans Affairs complies with the statute, not the constitution, and denies property tax exemption to two groups of disabled veterans specified by the people when we amended the constitution to add the exemption to veterans. For some reason not apparent in the legislative history of HB07-1251, "unemployability" went from acceptable to specifically refused by CDMVA. The constitutional provision recognizing military service disability ratings was cut from HB07-1251 in the Engrossed version, without comment...it just disappeared. CMDVA also excludes those veterans which obviously conflicts with the constitution.

WHAT VOTERS APPROVED IN 2006 FOR DISABLED VETERAN PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION

BUT WE DIDN'T GET IT!