A bill that passed this year's legislative session will give severely disabled veterans a break on their homeowner taxes.
The bill will allow those veterans who are 70 to 90 percent disabled, according to the federal VA classification they have been assigned, to exclude $150,000 of the market value of their house for tax purposes.
In other words, if a veteran is 80 percent disabled, and his or her house is assessed at $200,000, he or she will only have to pay taxes on $50,000.
For veterans who are 100 percent disabled, the tax relief will ratchet up to $300,000 for their home.
For example, a 100 percent disabled veteran whose home has been assessed at $200,000 will pay no property tax.
If a veteran dies before their spouse does, and the spouse then owns the home, the benefit will apply until the spouse sells or transfers the ownership of the property.
For agricultural homesteads, only the portion of the property including the house and the garage apply.
The legislation was approved in March, and county, state and federal officials have had to move quickly to implement the provisions of the bill.
Part of the problem is that the property owner must apply to the assessor by July 1 of each assessment year.
Paperwork is now being developed so that veterans can use the proper forms to apply for the tax benefit.
Disabled veterans who are interested in obtaining the forms should contact their local County Veterans Service Officer. Each county in Minnesota has a veterans service officer, and the phone number should be included in the county listings.
This benefit does not apply to veterans with less than 70 percent disability.
Once a property has been accepted as a valuation exclusion in one year, the veteran will not need to reapply every year.
The property will continue to receive the benefit until there is a change in ownership.