SCR181

A Concurrent Resolution proposing to amend Article VIII, Section 1, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey.

Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (the Senate concurring):

1. The following proposed amendment to the Constitution of the State of New Jersey is agreed to:

PROPOSED AMENDMENT

Amend Article VIII, Section I, paragraph 3 to read as follows:

3. Any citizen and resident of this State now or hereafter honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active service, in time of war or other emergency as, from time to time, defined by the Legislature, in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States shall be entitled, annually to a deduction from the amount of any tax bill for taxes on real and personal property, or both, including taxes attributable to a residential unit held by a stockholder in a cooperative or mutual housing corporation, in the sum of $50 or if the amount of any such tax bill shall be less than $50, to a cancellation thereof, except that the deduction or cancellation shall be $100 in tax year 2000, $150 in tax year 2001, $200 in tax year 2002 [and] , $250 in [each] tax [year thereafter] years 2003 through 2020, and $1,000 in tax year 2021. Thereafter, the deduction or cancellation shall be adjusted annually in proportion to the difference between the Consumer Price Index for 2021 and the Consumer Price Index for each new tax year, provided that the deduction or cancellation shall not decrease and shall be rounded to the next highest multiple of $1. For the purpose of this paragraph, the definition of “Consumer Price Index” shall be determined from time to time by enactment of the Legislature. The deduction or cancellation shall not be altered or repealed. Any person hereinabove described who has been or shall be declared by the United States Veterans Administration, or its successor, to have a service-connected disability, shall be entitled to such further deduction from taxation as from time to time may be provided by law. The surviving spouse of any citizen and resident of this State who has met or shall meet his or her death on active duty in time of war or of other emergency as so defined in any such service shall be entitled, during her widowhood or his widowerhood, as the case may be, and while a resident of this State, to the deduction or cancellation in this paragraph provided for honorably discharged veterans and to such further deduction as from time to time may be provided by law. The surviving spouse of

any citizen and resident of this State who has had or shall hereafter have active service in time of war or of other emergency as so defined in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States and who died or shall die while on active duty in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States, or who has been or may hereafter be honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active service in time of war or of other emergency as so defined in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States shall be entitled, during her widowhood or his widowerhood, as the case may be, and while a resident of this State, to the deduction or cancellation in this paragraph provided for honorably discharged veterans and to such further deductions as from time to time may be provided by law.

(cf: Art. VIII, Sec. I, par. 3; effective December 2, 1999)

2. When this proposed amendment to the Constitution is finally agreed to pursuant to Article IX, paragraph 1 of the Constitution, it shall be submitted to the people at the next general election occurring more than three months after the final agreement and shall be published at least once in at least one newspaper of each county designated by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the General Assembly and the Secretary of State, not less than three months prior to the general election.

3. This proposed amendment to the Constitution shall be submitted to the people at that election in the following manner and form:

There shall be printed on each official ballot to be used at the general election, the following:

a. In every municipality in which voting machines are not used, a legend which shall immediately precede the question as follows:

If you favor the proposition printed below make a cross (X), plus (+), or check (a) in the square opposite the word "Yes." If you are opposed thereto make a cross (X), plus (+) or check (a) in the square opposite the word "No."

b. In every municipality the following question:

		TITLE
	YES	Do you approve amending the Constitution to increase the annual veterans’ property tax deduction from $250 to $1,000? The increase will take effect in 2021. The new deduction amount may go up each year thereafter if the Consumer Price Index increases.
		INTERPRETIVE STATEMENT
	NO	This amendment increases the veterans’ property tax deduction from $250 to $1,000. The increase will occur in 2021. The deduction may go up further each year if the Consumer Price Index increases. Any deduction increase will be rounded to the next highest $1. The deduction will never decrease, even if the Consumer Price Index decreases.

STATEMENT

This resolution proposes a constitutional amendment to increase the annual veterans’ property tax deduction. The current annual deduction of $250 will be increased to $1,000. That increase will take effect in 2021. In later years, the annual deduction will be further adjusted according to the net increases in the Consumer Price Index since 2021, but the deduction will never decrease. In other words, 2021 will be established as the base year for further deduction increases beyond the initial increase to $1,000. In each year after 2021, the amount of the deduction will be determined by calculating the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index since 2021, and applying the same percentage increase to $1,000, the deduction amount in 2021. However, the deduction will not be decreased. So, if there has been a decrease to the Consumer Price Index that would cause the deduction amount to also decrease, then the deduction will be the same as the previous year. Any increase in the amount of the annual deduction will be rounded to the next highest multiple of $1.

The most recent increase to the annual veterans’ property tax deduction occurred in 2002, from $200 per year to the current $250 per year. This proposed constitutional amendment will rely upon enactment of implementing legislation establishing a definition of Consumer Price Index to determine increases in years after 2021.