Niagara Wheatfield School Board OKs veterans tax exemption limit

The Niagara Wheatfield School Board has approved the minimum allowable property tax exemption for veterans.

Although the financial impact of the alternative veteran’s exemption was sketchy, five board members agreed to accept the resolution following a public hearing on the issue on Wednesday night.

The tax exemption will provide veterans a reduction on residential property assessments prepared after March 1 for school tax calculation. The law covers combat, wartime and disabled veterans with respective exemptions of $6,000, $4,000 and $10,000 on their assessments. The maximum exemption a veteran could receive would be a total of $20,000 for one who served in combat and was disabled.

No board members said they opposed the exemption but most wanted to know how the plan would impact other taxpayers.

District Business Administrator Allison Brady said she was unable to give a figure because the Niagara County Real Property Tax Office said that information was not yet available. Board President Steve Sabo said he first requested the information in February.

Factors to be considered include how many of the 1,552 veterans in the district would apply for an exemption, what type of exemption they would be allowed and how the exemption would affect the School Tax Relief Program (STAR) reductions.

Board member Gina Terbot, who originally said she could not support the veterans exemption without knowing about the financial impact, conceded she was “torn” over the issue, noting her late father was a Vietnam War veteran. She later joined with the majority to accept the plan.

Brady estimated school taxes on a $150,000 home in Wheatfield would rise about $22.17 because of the exemption. However, he said the estimate was based on 2014 assessments.

Terbot, who said some in the district said they would not support the district’s budget in May if the exemptions passed, told the 16 veterans at the meeting to come out and help get the budget passed.

Member Amy Deull, who did most of the questioning on details of the plan, abstained from the vote because she said her husband is a veteran.

Other board members were critical of state lawmakers for making local districts responsible for the decision.

“It sickens me what the state is doing – it divides the community,” said Darren Sneed, whose children are now serving, and noted that he had 24 years of active duty but still needed “some serious soul-searching” to make a decision.

Sabo and Christopher Peters agreed that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo should have made the decision, saying he avoided political controversy by letting it fall to the local school districts.

Six veterans spoke in favor of the plan during the hearing. The lone opposition was an anonymous letter sent to the board before the meeting.