Ballot Language:

The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt all or part of the residence homesteads of certain totally disabled veterans from ad valorem taxation and authorizing a change in the manner of determining the amount of the existing exemption from ad valorem taxation to which a disabled veteran is entitled.

SJR-29 History

(Enabling legislation is SB 666 which did not make it out of committee during the waning days of the session)

The author’s intent is clear:

Veterans with service-related injuries receive a disability rating ranging from zero to 100. Based on these ratings, the state provides veterans a sliding scale exemption from certain ad valorem property taxes.

S.J.R. 29 proposes a constitutional amendment to authorize the exemption from ad valorem property taxes of the homestead residence of a disabled veteran who receives a rating of “100 percent disabled” or “totally disabled.”

The amendment attempted to do two things. First, enable veterans that received service related injuries resulting in 100% disability, as determined by the Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs, to be exempt from property taxes. Second, to correct wording that prevents partially disabled veterans from receiving the amount of property tax exemptions the legislature intended.

There is a good example of the second problem in the Texas Legislative Council’s recap that shows a veteran with a 34% disability rating being downgraded to 30% by the Dept. of Veteran’s Affairs, receiving a lower exemption.

BigJolly says: I didn’t have to do much deep thinking to come a decision to vote for this one. Unfortunately, the first objective I outlined above will not occur because the enabling bill did not receive a final vote in the House. But the second objective should apply even without enabling legislation according to the TLC’s report.

What I found really disturbing while reading up on this amendment was the crass nature of the opponent’s arguments, which basically boiled down to the fact that we have too many guys in Iraq and Afghanistan surviving injuries that were previously fatal.

This reduction in revenue could be exacerbated by an influx of new disabled veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, where comparatively low fatality rates due to medical advances are offset tragically by larger numbers of military personnel who come home with permanent, debilitating injuries. As a result, more veterans likely would qualify for larger exemptions, which would cost local governments and also the state to the extent that state aid would have to offset the reduction in property tax revenue collected by school districts.

More of the same in the original HRO bill analysis:

No one disagrees with granting benefits to veterans for their service to the nation, but this measure would have a significant effect on reducing revenue available to tax districts. This effect would be exacerbated by the influx of new disabled veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Technological advancements and new medical techniques, coupled with more dangerous enemy weaponry, has led to different and sometimes more debilitating injuries than in previous conflicts, even while fatality rates in the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are much lower than in previous wars. Additionally, totally disabled veterans do not face an increased tax burden because they are eligible for a tax freeze.

What in the heck were the people that testified against this bill thinking? Takes a pretty sick mind to come up with that argument, IMHO. I’m voting for it.

Click to read comments for and against.

From the Texas Legislative Council Summary (note: 131 page pdf file):

Comments by Supporters: A veteran with a disability rating of 100 percent or totally disabled is unemployable and has limited means of earning an income. Under current law, such a veteran qualifies for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of only up to $12,000 of the value of the person’s property, which the person may apply to the person’s residence homestead or another property. The current exemption no longer provides significant relief from ever-increasing ad valorem taxes. A full exemption from ad valorem taxes on the residence homesteads of such veterans would be a gesture of gratitude on the part of the state and would ensure that those who have sacrificed so much for their country are not forced to sell their homes because they cannot afford to pay the taxes on them. The exemption would not have a significant effect on the revenue available to local governments because only a very few veterans will be eligible for the exemption.

Increasing the amount of the exemption for which veterans whose disability ratings have been rounded down by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs to 30, 50, or 70 percent ensures that those veterans receive the exemptions that the legislature and the voters intended when the current constitution and the Tax Code provisions were originally adopted to provide for ad valorem tax exemptions for the property of disabled veterans. As in the case with regard to the residence homestead exemption for totally disabled veterans authorized by the amendment, the amendment of the ranges of disability ratings so that certain disabled veterans would qualify for a slightly greater ad valorem tax exemption on their property than is allowed under current law would not have a substantial fiscal effect on the state or local governments.

Comments by Opponents: A total exemption from ad valorem taxation of the residence homesteads of veterans with a disability rating of 100 percent or totally disabled would significantly reduce the revenue available to local governments and would require the state to provide additional state funds to school districts to the extent that the exemption reduces the amount of ad valorem tax revenue collected by school districts. Allowing certain disabled veterans to qualify for the ad valorem tax exemptions to which disabled veterans in higher disability rating categories are entitled would likewise cost the state and local governments. In addition, even if ad valorem taxes continue to increase, the school district taxes imposed on the residence homesteads of totally disabled veterans are already subject to the “tax freeze” available under current law to other disabled homeowners and the elderly. In addition, a totally disabled veteran is eligible for the limitations on tax increases that have been adopted by many other local governments to benefit disabled homeowners. The fiscal impact of the proposed changes will be more significant due to the number of disabled veterans returning from action in Afghanistan and Iraq.