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Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Veterans support Propostion 9 for property tax exemptions




Reminder to Vote Yes for Proposition 9.
Subject: Vote for Proposition 9 on November 6th

Proposition 9: A special election will be held on Tuesday 6 November 2007 for proposed Texas Constitutional Amendments. Among the Amendments being considered is Proposition 9 (SJR 29). Proposition 9 (SJR 29) would authorize the legislature to exempt all or part of the market value of the residence homesteads of veterans certified as having a service-connected 100 percent disability rating. SJR 29 would also clarify the progression of property tax exemptions available to veterans who are less than 100 percent disabled.

The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt all or part of the residence homesteads of certain totally disabled veterans from ad valorem taxation and authorizing a change in the manner of determining the amount of the existing exemption from ad valorem taxation to which a disabled veteran is entitled."

Passage of the proposed Constitutional Amendment would allow for 100% Disabled Veterans to be exempted from 100% of their property taxes. Note: passage of this proposed Constitutional Amendment completes Half of the legislation required to make this a law. The other half is referred to as enabling legislation or the mechanics of how the proposed bill will work. The Enabling Legislation was the half that died on the Texas House Floor on 22 May 07 when it missed the midnight cutoff by a few minutes. This enabling legislation will be worked on during the intervening months until the start of the 81st Texas Legislature in January 2009.

Now is the time for grassroots actions on the part of every veteran and veteran organization. Inform every veteran that you know about the proposed Constitutional Amendment, get every veteran and their family registered to vote, and vote for Proposition 9 on November 6th.

John A Miterko
Vietnam Veterans of America, National Chair, Government Affairs Committee
VVA Texas State Council Government Affairs Chair & State Legislative Coordinator
Vice President, Legislative Affairs, Military Service Coalition
Legislative Coordinator, Texas Association of Vietnam Veterans

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