By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
Hugh Martin was glancing through a copy of a newsletter from the Disabled American Veterans last month when he noticed a tidbit that delighted him.
Last fall, according to the newsletter, the N.C. General Assembly passed the Property Tax Relief for Disabled Veterans bill. The bill provides a break on property taxes for qualifying veterans with a 100 percent service-connected disability.
“I think veterans ought to get every bit of attention they can,” said the 74-year-old Martin, a veteran of both the Army and Air Force who is now 100 percent disabled.
He’s active in a number of veterans organizations ó the American Legion, the VFW and Disabled American Veterans, included.
“If I can get some relief, I want it,” Martin continued. “And I want these other guys to get some relief, too.”
The tax break ó for disabled veterans with honorable discharges ó is available to more than 20,000 families in North Carolina, the DAV said. The new program excludes up to the first $45,000 of the appraised value of a permanent residence for qualifying veterans.
Restrictions are relatively few. There is no age or income limitation for the program. The benefit is also available to the unmarried surviving spouse of a disabled veteran who was rated 100 percent disabled at the time of his or her death.
Wally Tyson, department adjutant for the DAV, said his organization helped work for more than seven years for the bill’s passage. “It was a major accomplishment,” he said of its approval.
The bill was signed into law last September by Gov. Mike Easley.
It had been approved during the final hours of the 2008 N.C. General Assembly’s legislative session.
Tyson said the DAV is working to expand the bill’s benefits, hoping to eventually award qualifying veterans a 100 percent break on their property taxes.
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Application forms must be submitted to your county’s Tax Assessor’s Office before June 1 for veterans looking to receive exemptions for the 2009 tax year.
To apply: Obtain an application and N.C. Division of Veterans Affairs Form 9 at your county’s Tax Assessor’s Office or at www.nc.gov. Complete Form 9 and mail it to the DVA Regional Office in Winston-Salem. Representatives of the DVA Office will complete the form and return it to the veteran or eligible spouse.