SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 113
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED SEPTEMBER 19, 2024
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Proposes constitutional amendment to increase amount of veterans property tax deduction based on annual increases in CPI.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Concurrent Resolution proposing to amend Article VIII, Section I, paragraph 3 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey.
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey (the General Assembly 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. a. Any citizen and resident of this State now or hereafter honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active service 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 $250 in [each] for tax year 2003 through 2025, or if the amount of any such tax bill shall be less than $250, to a cancellation thereof. For tax year 2026, the deduction or cancellation shall be adjusted in proportion to the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index that has occurred for each tax year from 2003 through 2025. Thereafter, the deduction or cancellation shall be adjusted annually in proportion to the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index. The deduction or cancellation shall not decrease in any tax year and any increase shall be rounded to the next highest one dollar increment. For purposes of this paragraph, the definition of Consumer Price Index shall be defined as provided by law. The deduction or cancellation shall not be altered or repealed.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 Department of Veterans Affairs, 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 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 subsection 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 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 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 subsection provided for honorably discharged veterans and to such further deductions as from time to time may be provided by law.
b. A continuing care retirement community shall receive a veterans' property tax deduction on behalf of eligible veterans. The amount of the property tax deduction shall be the dollar amount of the deduction multiplied by the number of eligible veterans receiving the property tax deduction immediately prior to moving into the continuing care retirement community. A person otherwise eligible for the veterans' deduction who is a resident of a continuing care retirement community shall receive the amount of the deduction to the extent of the share of the taxes assessed against the real property of the continuing care retirement community that is attributable to the unit that the resident occupies. The continuing care retirement community shall provide that amount as a payment or credit to the resident. That payment or credit shall be made to the resident no later than 30 days after the continuing care retirement community receives the property tax bill on which the credit appears. A veterans' property tax deduction shall not be paid on behalf of any eligible veteran who resides in a continuing care retirement community that is property tax-exempt. A resident receiving a payment or credit pursuant to this subsection shall not receive a veterans' property tax deduction on any other residence owned in whole or in part by the resident, or any residence in which the resident's spouse is living.
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 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 in this subsection provided for honorably discharged veterans. The
surviving spouse of any citizen and resident of this State who has had or shall
hereafter have active service 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 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 in this subsection provided for honorably discharged veterans.
(cf: Art.VIII, Sec.I, par.3; effective December 3, 2020)
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 "N