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A1262
ASSEMBLY, No. 1262
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman MICHAEL INGANAMORT
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
SYNOPSIS
���� Requires State reimbursement to local government
units for first-year uncollected property tax revenue attributable to veterans'
property tax exemption.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning the veterans� property tax exemption and
amending P.L.1948, c.259.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� Section 1 of P.L.1948,
c.259 (C.54:4-3.30) is amended to read as follows:
���� 1.� a.� The dwelling house and
the lot or curtilage whereon the same is erected, of any citizen and resident
of this State, now or hereafter honorably discharged or released under
honorable circumstances, from active service in any branch of the Armed Forces
of the United States, who has been or shall be declared by the United States
Department of Veterans' Affairs or its successor to have a service-connected
disability from paraplegia, sarcoidosis, osteochondritis resulting in permanent
loss of the use of both legs, or permanent paralysis of both legs and lower
parts of the body, or from hemiplegia and has permanent paralysis of one leg
and one arm or either side of the body, resulting from injury to the spinal
cord, skeletal structure, or brain or from disease of the spinal cord not
resulting from any form of syphilis; or from total blindness; or from
amputation of both arms or both legs, or both hands or both feet, or the
combination of a hand and a foot; or from other service-connected disability
declared by the United States Veterans Administration or its successor to be a
total or 100 percent permanent disability, and not so evaluated solely because
of hospitalization or surgery and recuperation, sustained through enemy action,
or accident, or resulting from disease contracted while in such active service,
shall be exempt from taxation, on proper claim made therefor, and such
exemption shall be in addition to any other exemption of such person's real and
personal property which now is or hereafter shall be prescribed or allowed by
the Constitution or by law but no taxpayer shall be allowed more than one
exemption under this act.
���� b.� (1)� The surviving spouse
of any such citizen and resident of this State, who at the time of death was
entitled to the exemption provided under this act, shall be entitled, on proper
claim made therefor, to the same exemption as the deceased had, during the
surviving spouse's widowhood or widowerhood, as the case may be, and while a
resident of this State, for the time that the surviving spouse is the legal
owner thereof and actually occupies the said dwelling house or any other
dwelling house thereafter acquired.
���� (2)�� The surviving spouse of
any citizen and resident of this State who was honorably discharged and, after
the citizen and resident's death, is declared to have suffered a
service-connected disability as provided in subsection a. of this section,
shall be entitled, on proper claim made therefor, to the same exemption the
deceased would have become eligible for.� The exemption shall continue during
the surviving spouse's widowhood or widowerhood, as the case may be, and while
a resident of this State, for the time that the surviving spouse is the legal
owner thereof and actually occupies the dwelling house or any other dwelling
house thereafter acquired.
���� c.���� The surviving spouse of
any citizen and resident of this State, who died in active service in any
branch of the Armed Forces of the United States, shall be entitled, on proper
claim made therefor, to an exemption from taxation on the dwelling house and lot
or curtilage whereon the same is erected, during the surviving spouse's
widowhood or widowerhood, as the case may be, and while a resident of this
State, for the time that the surviving spouse is the legal owner thereof and
actually occupies the said dwelling or any other dwelling house thereafter
acquired.
���� d.��� The surviving spouse of
any citizen and resident of this State who died prior to January 10, 1972, that
being the effective date of P.L.1971, c.398, and whose circumstances were such
that, had said law become effective during the deceased's lifetime, the
deceased would have become eligible for the exemption granted under this
section as amended by said law, shall be entitled, on proper claim made
therefor, to the same exemption as the deceased would have become eligible for
upon the dwelling house and lot or curtilage occupied by the deceased at the
time of death, during the surviving spouse's widowhood or widowerhood, as the
case may be, and while a resident of this State, for the time that the
surviving spouse is the legal owner thereof and actually occupies the said
dwelling house on the premises to be exempted.
���� e.���� Nothing in this act
shall be intended to include paraplegia or hemiplegia resulting from locomotor
ataxia or other forms of syphilis of the central nervous system, or from
chronic alcohol use disorder, or to include other forms of disease resulting
from the veteran's own misconduct which may produce signs and symptoms similar
to those resulting from paraplegia, osteochondritis, or hemiplegia.
����
f.� (1)� The State Treasurer
shall reimburse municipalities, counties, school districts, and fire districts for
the total amount of assessed property taxes that were not collectible from
tax-exempt properties during the first tax year in which a person is approved
for a property tax-exemption pursuant to this section.
����
(2)� During any tax year in
which a person has been approved for a property tax exemption pursuant to this
section, the tax collector of the municipality in which the person resides
shall provide the following documentation to the Director of the Division of
Taxation in the Department of the Treasury: a copy of the resolution approved
by the governing body of the municipality granting the property tax exemption;
a copy of the person�s property tax bill for the tax year; and a certification
of the amount of property taxes that would have been due and payable by the
person for the municipality, county, school district, and fire district,
respectively, during the remainder of the tax year following the date of
approval of the exemption.� This documentation shall be provided to the
director not later than 10 days after the date of approval of the exemption.
����
(3)�� The State Treasurer
shall reimburse each municipality, county, school district, and fire district
not later than 10 calendar days following the due date of each quarterly
property tax bill for which property taxes are no longer owed for the property.
(cf:� P.L.2023, c.177, s.150)
���� 2.� The Director of the
Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury shall promulgate rules
and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act,"
P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to effectuate the provisions of this act.
���� 3.� This act shall take effect
on the first day of the ninth month next following the date of enactment,
except that the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the
Treasury may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be
necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
���� This bill would require the
State to reimburse local government units, including municipalities, counties,
school districts for the assessed value of property taxes that are no longer
collectible during the first year in which a person is approved for the 100
percent service-disabled veterans property tax exemption.
���� During any tax year in which a
person is approved for the property tax exemption, the tax collector of the
municipality in which the person resides, would be required to provide the
Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury with the
following documentation: a copy of the resolution approved by the governing
body of the municipality granting the property tax exemption; a copy of the person�s
property tax bill for the tax year; and a certification of the amount of
property taxes that would have been otherwise due and payable by the person for
each local government unit during the remainder of the tax year following the
date of approval by the governing body of the exemption.
���� After this documentation is
provided, the State Treasurer would be required to reimburse each local
government unit not later than 10 calendar days following the due date of each quarterly
tax bill for which property taxes are no longer owed for the property.