By Adam Swift
A number of property tax exemptions are available for Revere veterans.
Last week, City Assessor Dana Brangiforte gave a presentation to the city council highlighting many of those potential exemptions. The presentation was at the request of Council President Marc Silvestri.
With the Clause 22 exemption, veterans are eligible for a $412 exemption on their property taxes if they have been awarded a Purple Heart, are the spouse of an eligible veteran, or a surviving spouse who has not remarried.
The Clause 22A exemption provides for a $772 exemption for veterans who have lost or lost the use of one hand above the wrist, one foot above the ankle, or one eye. The exemption is also available for veterans who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, or Air Force Cross, according to Brangiforte.
Clause 22B provides a $1,286 tax exemption for the loss or loss of use of both hands or feet, one hand above the wrist and one foot above the ankle, or the loss or loss of use of both eyes.
Clause 22C provides a $1,544 exemption for veterans who are permanently and totally disabled, as rated by the VA, and have specially adapted housing. Clause 22D is a full tax exemption for surviving spouses who never remarried of military personnel who either went missing in action during active duty and are presumed to have died or who have died as a proximate result of injuries sustained or illness contracted during active-duty service.
Clause 22E provides a $1,029 exemption for those who have a 100 percent war-related disability as defined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
Clause 22F is a full exemption for a veteran who is a paraplegic due to a service-connected disability, and Clause 22H is a full exemption for surviving parents or guardians of military personnel who either went missing in action during active duty and are presumed to have died or who died as a result of a proximate injury or illness sustained during active duty.
“All of those exemptions, you do have to have ownership and domicile requirements, so you have to own and live in the property,” said Brangiforte.
Also required is the DD214 and the veterans award letter to show the percentage of the disability, he added.
“Each year, the period where you can apply for these exemptions opens up July 1, and it ends April 1,” said Brangiforte. “If the veteran has received the exemption in the past, we automatically mail out those applications to them and we pre-fill as much of the information as we can just to make it as easy as possible for them.”
Another clause that was adopted last year as part of the state HERO Act last year allows the city to increase the amount of the exemptions each year with a cost of living adjustment.
“Another option that is available through the city for all those exemptions is that we double all those exemptions, that’s under Chapter 59, Section 5C.5,” said Brangiforte. “The HERO Act also gave cities and towns the availability to do this just for veterans exemptions; we chose to do this already for all of our exemptions.”
Also available for veterans is a motor vehicle excise exemption, which is a full exemption for one vehicle per veteran who receives a 100 percent availability rate.
The city also has a veterans work-off program, where they can work 66.6 hours and receive a $1,000 exemption, Brangiforte said.
