(TRENTON) – Assemblyman Robert Andrzejczak (D-Cape May/Atlantic/Cumberland) has introduced a resolution to put a question on the ballot in the next general election asking voters to amend the state constitution to extend property tax benefits to veterans who did not serve in wartime.
The measure (ACR-218) would broaden the eligibility for the veterans’ property tax deduction and the veterans’ property tax exemption. Currently, these property tax benefits are given only to honorably discharged military veterans who served during time of war or other emergency.
“Limiting these benefits to veterans who served in time of war implies that certain veterans are more deserving of our help than others. Every soldier who signed up to serve did so knowing that he or she may be called to serve during times of conflict. The fact that that moment never came for these soldiers should not be held against them,” said Andrzejczak, a former sergeant in the US Army who lost his left leg during a roadside bombing in the Iraq War. “New Jersey’s property taxes put a great financial burden on our residents. They can be especially taxing on our veterans, whose unemployment rate exceeds the national average. These veterans are no less worthy of this financial assistance.”
If approved by the voters, the amendment would make honorably discharged military veterans who did not serve during time of war or other emergency eligible for the $250 property tax deduction and the property tax deduction granted by law to veterans with a service-connected disability.