Colorado Senators - You KILLED Veteran's Survivor Property Tax Exemption for my Widow? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?

         What Were You Thinking?
NOT ABOUT ME, MY WIFE OR MY KIDS!
THAT'S FOR CERTAIN!

 

THE REST OF THE STORY: The Brief Life & Sudden Death of Colorado's Gold Star Wives' Tax Exemption

Not about to waste a perfectly good opportunity to turn virtually every veterans' wrath against them, yesterday the Colorado Senate Veterans Committee killed HCR21-1002. 

Ever budget-conscious, the committee's discussion indicated they felt it terribly unwise to "waste" $94,000 permitting widows of active-duty troops the same very modest property tax break now given widows of our 100% disabled veterans. Colorado has 140 widows of active-duty troops, all denied the small exemption because the awkward wording of the 2014 legislation restricted the exemption to widows of a veteran already getting the exemption.

Get it?

a) Die on active duty = no widow's tax exemption, or

b) Die after active duty as a disabled vet = widow gets exemption.

Troops call this kind of situation "bass-ack-wards." 

The rest of the story? After a unanimous House vote for HCR21-1002, it was killed because some senators might to do "something" next year to go to the voters in 2023 for some relief for the widows in 2024.

"Something" apparently being a larger overhaul of the entire property tax exemption issue that costs $150,000,000 each year. Gold Star Wives  (mostly elderly of World War II, Korean Conflict and Vietnam eras) would have added 0.00062 to that $150M.

I think the House could have chosen a better approach to the Gold Star Wives, something easier than the constitutional amendment HCR21-1002 required. The legislature took it on themselves to include widows of 100% disabled vets who were receiving the exemption by HB14-1373, not an amendment which is more difficult. 

All the House had to do was use 21 new words refine the definition of "qualifying veteran" to include "or a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who died in the line of duty on active service" in a  new statute.

Here's what it took to include survivors in the original 2014 bill:

39-3-203. Property tax exemption - qualifications. (1.5) (a.5)

FOR PROPERTY TAX YEARS COMMENCING ON OR AFTER JANUARY 1, 2015, FIFTY PERCENT OF THE FIRST TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS OF ACTUAL VALUE OF RESIDENTIAL REAL PROPERTY THAT AS OF THE ASSESSMENT DATE IS OWNER-OCCUPIED AND IS USED AS THE PRIMARY RESIDENCE OF AN OWNER-OCCUPIER WHO IS THE SURVIVING SPOUSE OF A QUALIFYING DISABLED VETERAN WHO PREVIOUSLY RECEIVED AN EXEMPTION UNDER PARAGRAPH (a) OF THIS SUBSECTION (1.5) IS EXEMPT FROM TAXATION.

Here's the redefined "qualifying veteran":

SURVIVING SPOUSE OF A QUALIFYING DISABLED VETERAN WHO PREVIOUSLY RECEIVED AN EXEMPTION or a member of the Armed Forces of the United States who died in the line of duty on active service UNDER PARAGRAPH (a) OF THIS SUBSECTION (1.5) IS EXEMPT FROM TAXATION.

And that's "the rest of the story!" 

Here's the Colorado Bar Association's statement:

"Gold Star Wives, survivors of active-duty servicemembers, are denied the exemption because the state constitution (Amendment X Section 3.5) allows the exemption to survivors of veterans already in receipt of the benefit. Colorado legislators apparently did not consider the issue of active-duty deaths. Loss of the servicemember on active duty precludes the 'already in receipt of the benefit' requirement. Proposed is a redefinition of a qualified recipient to include survivors of active duty servicemembers who die in the line of duty."