Local school districts should offer tax exemption for veterans who are 100 percent disabled

Editor:

I am writing to encourage residents, veterans, and local organizations to petition Orleans County school districts to hold public hearings on the newly authorized property tax exemption for permanently and totally disabled veterans under New York State Real Property Tax Law §458-a(11).

This legislation gives local governments and school districts the authority to provide a full property tax exemption to qualifying veterans who have been permanently and totally disabled as a result of their military service. However, each taxing jurisdiction must decide whether to adopt it.

Monroe County has already adopted the exemption, and some school districts have begun taking action. Yet here in Orleans County, there has been little public discussion about whether our school districts intend to offer this benefit.

I am a permanently and totally disabled combat veteran who served in Iraq. I live within the Kendall Central School District, which does not currently participate in the Alternative Veterans’ Exemption. I recently contacted the district’s Board of Education president to ask whether the new exemption had been discussed or would be considered. I was informed that the board had not discussed it and that there was no timeline for doing so.

This raises a larger question: Why should disabled veterans have to appear personally before a school board just to get elected officials to discuss a benefit that the state has already authorized?

Many permanently and totally disabled veterans live with serious physical injuries, PTSD, anxiety, and other service-connected disabilities. For some, appearing before a room full of people to publicly discuss their disabilities or advocate for themselves can be extremely difficult.

These veterans have already demonstrated their disabilities through the Department of Veterans Affairs. They should not have to stand before another government body and explain why their sacrifices deserve consideration.

I recognize that adopting this exemption has financial implications for school districts and taxpayers. Those implications deserve an open and informed discussion. That is precisely why I believe public hearings are appropriate.

I am calling on the Boards of Education in Kendall, Albion, Holley, Lyndonville and Medina to publicly consider this exemption, hold hearings, and give residents an opportunity to understand its potential benefits and costs.

I also encourage local veterans’ organizations, including VFW and American Legion posts, to help organize petitions and advocate for these discussions.

This is not a demand that school districts automatically approve the exemption. It is a request that they put the issue on their agendas, examine the facts, and make a decision in public.

Our disabled veterans should not have to fight another battle simply to have their needs considered.

Respectfully,

Dan Brundage

Kendall Central School District resident

Iraq War veteran