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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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CONTACT: Ann
Collis |
State Rep. Richard T.
Grucela |
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Grucela bill would make tax-exemptions for disabled veterans across-the-board
HARRISBURG, Feb. 2 – State Rep. Rich Grucela, D-Northampton, has introduced legislation that would amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to allow the state to exempt all honorably discharged, permanently disabled veterans from residential property taxes.
Grucela said currently the State Veterans’ Commission must determine on a case-by-case basis if a disabled veteran qualifies for a property tax exemption based on his or her financial need.
“High property taxes are a burden for everyone in the state,” Grucela said. “But until we can find a feasible way to lower those payments for everyone, we have to protect our most vulnerable. As we have done for our seniors, so too should we help permanently disabled veterans.
“These men and women already must pay medical bills they would not have incurred if they had not served their country,” Grucela said. “This proposal would ease a financial burden that has been exacerbated by their injury.”
As the newly appointed majority subcommittee chairman of the Veteran’s Affairs Committee, Grucela will bring additional attention to the bill and help advance it through the legislature.
Grucela explained that Article VIII of the Pennsylvania Constitution requires state and local taxes to be levied uniformly on all groups and classes of taxpayers. Because of this uniformity clause, granting disabled veterans, as a group, exemption from the property tax would require a constitutional amendment similar to the amendment approved by Pennsylvania voters in 1997 that allowed school districts and municipalities to exclude a portion of the assessed value of residential, or “homestead,” property from real estate taxes.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, there are 1.11 million veterans nationwide. There are 7,256 permanently disabled veterans in Pennsylvania.
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