In addition to choosing a U.S. Senator and Congressional Representative, Virginia voters will also evaluate a ballot initiative at the polls next Tuesday. The initiative will approve or deny a statewide constitutional amendment providing an exemption from property taxes for the spouses of deceased members of the United States Armed Forces.
The Virginia Property Tax Exemption for Surviving Spouses of Armed Forces Amendment, or House Bill 46, would free the immediate spouses of those who died in the line of duty from any taxation on real property, provided the spouse does not remarry.
“This exemption applies to the surviving spouse’s principal place of residence without any restriction on the spouse’s moving to a different principal place of residence and without any requirement that the spouse reside in the Commonwealth at the time of death of the member of the armed forces,” according to the proposed amendment.
Del. David Ramadan, R-Loudon, proposed the amendment. In Virginia law, a bill must be passed by a simple majority vote in two successive sessions of the Virginia legislature to appear on the ballot. House Bill 46 passed unanimously through both the state Senate (40 members) and House of Representatives (93 members). It was enrolled April 7, 2014.
Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, said Republicans and Democrats in Virginia largely agree on this issue. He said the military presence in Virginia — about 10 percent of the state population — plays a large role in the state’s economy, and that the idea of honoring fallen soldiers in granting tax exemptions to their spouses is a worthy one no matter the party affiliation.
Similarly, Virginia Republican Party spokesperson Garren Shipley said though the party itself has not formally taken a stance on the issue, House Bill 46 has been recognized by the party chairman Pat Mullins as worthwhile.
“It’s about as noncontroversial as these sort of things can get,” Shipley said.
He added that though the ballot will be voted on in the General Election, if passed it would only grant the General Assembly the ability to carry out the application of the tax exemption. To “carve out” a tax exemption for a specific set of people, Shipley said, the General Assembly must first be given the power to do so.
Shipley did say there has been a relative lack of education about the amendment, which he said has received relatively little marketing across the state compared to more controversial issues.
“The biggest challenge the amendment will have would simply be obscurity: folks don’t know what it is or what it’s about,” Shipley said.
Deeds said the amendment's costs would present the biggest opposition to the bill.
“We had to talk about [the bill's costs] and we had to work on the language for that,” Deeds said.
Since the tax exemption provides no refund to the localities granting the tax exemptions, a source of public income would be depleted. Deeds said he does not envision this being a major concern, as the bill would only pertain to those who did not remarry, and many of the deceased in recent years have been young adults whose spouses eventually do remarry and thus lose eligibility for this tax exemption.
“And the reality, under this language, [is that] the localities don’t have to do it," Deeds said. 'It’s up to the local government whether to decide to do it or not.”
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