House committee votes to approve abatement for disabled veterans

The House Finance Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to approve state funding to help offset local property tax abatements for disabled veterans, and widows and orphans of first responders.

State Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, said House Bill 2 would raise from $45,000 to $100,000 the cap on local property tax exclusions for 100 percent disabled veterans.

In a previous version of the bill, the exclusion from property taxes was unlimited.

Dollar talked about a large number of veterans concentrated in a few counties, such as Cumberland and Onslow. The unlimited abatement could affect county coffers.

“We also decided not to have an unfunded mandate from the state,” Dollar said. “So the additional amount above $45,000 of assessed value will covered by the state in this case, and not be covered by the municipality.”

The state would reimburse local governments for the amount of tax excused from payment.

The second portion of the bill relates to single widows of fallen first responders, “whether they be law enforcement, EMT, or firefighters,” Dollar said.

“In that case, of course, the local governments are going to cover that. It’s their employees,” Dollar said. That would be an unlimited property tax homestead exclusion.

North Carolina considers itself “one of the most, if not the most, military friendly state, and we want to continue with that,” Dollar said in explaining the rationale behind the bill. “We want to be able to expand that, particularly for those who have given their limbs literally, and their health, and so much about the function of life in service to our country.”

That same consideration should be extended to “local hometown heroes who have sacrificed their very lives for the safety and protection of our communities,” Dollar said. “The least we can do is help that individual’s widow, and that individual’s orphans with the property tax on their home.”

Since the late 1970s there have been 371 firefighter deaths in North Carolina, Dollar said.

“This is a way, in a very substantial way, we can honor their families.”