State Legislator Pushes Property Tax Break for Disabled Veterans

Story by Jessica Rosenberg

More disabled Illinois veterans would get a break on property taxes
under a bill proposed by state lawmakers, but their neighbors would
have to pick up the tab.

House Bill 114 says
the percentage of taxes to be discounted would be equal to the
veteran’s degree of disability. If a veteran is 30 percent disabled, he
would receive a 30 percent discount on his taxes. The U.S. Department of Defense determines the percent of disability.

The bill is for any veteran who was wounded in combat, said Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Highland), one of the bill sponsors and a Vietnam veteran.

“It’s a smaller group, but they’re a very special group because when
they step out on that battlefield, they’re taking their life in their
own hands so we think they should get some benefits.”

But not everyone thinks this bill is necessary.

“I think it’s overkill,” said House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie
(D-Chicago). Currie sits on the Revenue Committee that decides if
Stephens’ bill will advance. A vote has not been scheduled and Currie
said the bill is unlikely to get a hearing.

There is already legislation in place that helps disabled veterans
and there may not be a need for more, said Currie. For that reason, she
added, it’s unfair to ask taxpayers to bare the burden.

In addition to helping veterans, Stephens sees larger, societal implications to the proposal.

“You are saying to the neighbors, the next time we start a war,
before you think ‘let’s send these boys off,’ you’ve got a little price
to pay on the way back. And I like that. I think folks ought to think
about that,” said Stephens.

“If it makes them more interested in public affairs, foreign policy
and what their president is doing, I think that’s a side benefit.”

Property tax is a major source of tax revenue for local governments
and the largest single tax collected in Illinois, according to an Illinois Department of Revenue
report. There is no blanket property tax rate for Illinois, however,
the majority of the state is taxed at a rate of 33 1/3 percent. Cook
County is an exception with its property taxes ranging from 16 to 38
percent.

“Many bills that provide tax relief only give you so much [of a break],” said Victor Smith, legislative director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Smith supports Stephens’ bill.

The Illinois Department of Revenue currently offers a one-time
$5,000 reduction in property tax for returning vets under The Returning
Veteran’s Homestead Exemption. The Disabled Veterans Standard Homestead
Exemption also gives property tax relief but vets have to be at least
50 percent disabled and no more than 75 percent disabled.

There are more than 23 million veterans in the U.S. and about 257,000 vets are 100 percent disabled, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In Illinois, there are more than 800,000 veterans.

“[Stephens’] bill ties the reduction in taxes to the level of
disability,” said Smith. He considers this a more accurate way to
determine benefits

Property tax is collected at the county level and the largest
portion of it funds public schools, according to the revenue report.

Local schools would not lose money because the bill would require
other taxpayers in the district to pick up the difference. It would
only be an increase of a few cents per payer, Stephens estimates.

This way, Stephens said the net cost would be $0 and the fiscal impact on the state would be “minimal.”

But to the Taxpayers Federation of Illinois, given the state’s current budget problems, that is still too much.

“In other years we might support such credits because they are good
for whoever the constituency is but this year we’re opposing it because
the state lacks money,” said David Eldridge, legislative director for
the federation.

“We’re not opposed to the principle of what [Rep. Stephens] is
trying to do, but our opposition [lies on the state’s] lack of money.”

Stephens said the year isn’t over and no matter what opposition
there is, he’s going to keep working the General Assembly to pass the
bill.

“You’ll see this again in amendment form, you’ll see it in the
Senate, you’ll see it every year until we get it passed,” said Stephens.

Adding that the concept for the bill has been around for several years and other representatives have pushed for it.

“It just seems so fair to me,” he said.