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
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