NOVEMBER 10, 2008

COUNTY LEGISLATOR WROBLEWSKI LEADS LEGISLATURE IN APPROVING COLD WAR VETERANS TAX EXEMPTION

Erie County Legislator Timothy M. Wroblewski (D-West Seneca, South Cheektowaga) helped lead the Erie County Legislature in unanimously approving the Cold War Veterans property tax exemption at last week's session.

Under the law, which will take effect on the 2010 Erie County real property taxes, a "Cold War veteran" means a person, male or female, who served on active duty in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps or Coast Guard from September 2, 1945, to December 26, 1991, and was discharged or released under honorable conditions.

Qualifying residential real property shall be exempt from taxation 15 percent of the assessed value; the exemption shall not exceed $12,000 or the product of $12,000 multiplied by the latest state equalization rate of the assessing unit, whichever is less.

The designated exemption recipient, a "Qualified owner," means a Cold War veteran, the spouse of a Cold War veteran, or the unremarried surviving spouse of a deceased Cold War veteran. Where property is owned by more than one qualified owner, the exemption to which each is entitled may be combined. Where a veteran is also the unremarried surviving spouse of a veteran, such person may also receive any exemption to which the deceased spouse was entitled.

"Our veterans have served our nation with dedication, hard work and commitment, including during the Cold War. This was both in actual combat situations such as the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the first Persian Gulf War," Legislator Wroblewski said. "They also served during a period in which this county was fighting the spread of communism by standing up to the Soviet Union when that country threatened nuclear and conventional war. Having the well-trained military men and women in our armed forces during the Cold War guaranteed that America and its allies won that conflict. These veterans deserve this property tax relief."

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