S900

An Act concerning tax exempt status of certain real property owned by disabled veterans of the State 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. (1) 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 time of war, in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States, who has been or shall be declared by the United States Veterans Administration 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% 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.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, or any law to the contrary, whenever flood, storm event, natural cause, or other act of God destroys, in whole or in significant part, a dwelling house owned by a citizen and resident of this State, exempt from taxation pursuant to this section, the land on which the dwelling house was situate shall retain the tax exempt status provided under this section that the prior dwelling house and land previously enjoyed, so long as substantial, ongoing construction is undertaken within four years of the destruction.

For the purpose of this section, a dwelling house shall be deemed to have been destroyed in significant part if the dwelling house is rendered unsafe, unsanitary, or otherwise uninhabitable by flood, storm event, natural cause, or other act of God.

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 time of war 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 alcoholism, 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.

(cf: P.L.2007, c.317, s.1)

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill would continue the tax exempt status of property owned by a 100 percent disabled veteran whose home has been destroyed by flood, storm event, natural cause, or other act of God.

Currently, 100 percent disabled veterans of this State may claim a full local property tax exemption on their dwelling homes and the ground upon which the respective dwellings are located. In the event a natural disaster, such as a storm or flood, destroys the dwelling, the property becomes taxable because it is no longer usable as the owner's residence. This bill would continue the tax exempt status that the prior dwelling house and land enjoyed before its destruction, so long as substantial, ongoing construction is undertaken within four years of the destruction.

As a result of the effects of Superstorm Sandy, some tax exemptions on real property have lapsed as residents of this State attempt to recover from the devastation caused by the storm. In particular, the tax exempt status of some 100 percent disabled veterans in this State has lapsed and their properties have become taxable while they rebuild their storm damaged homes. This bill would ensure that disabled veterans are able to retain the tax exempt status of their property following the destruction of their homes by natural disasters, so long as they commence reconstruction or repairs within four years to make the property habitable again.