Military service members would not have to pay property taxes on their homes while they are deployed, if a proposed constitutional amendment passes the Legislature as well as Utah voters at the ballot box next November.
A property tax waiver, proposed in two separate joint resolutions, is one of a host of military-friendly measures the Utah Legislature will take up this session.
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Other bills would let spouses of servicemen and women collect unemployment if they have to quit their jobs for a military move, provide incentives for businesses to hire veterans and help veterans pay for higher education.
The Senate on Friday approved and sent to the House a bill to perpetually set aside the second Friday and Saturday of August to honor Utah’s "fallen heroes." SB105 is sponsored by Sen. Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy.
Also facing smooth sailing, so far, is HB263, sponsored by Rep. Lynn Hemingway, D-Salt Lake City. The bill would allow a spouse to collect unemployment if he or she has to quit a job when a military spouse is transferred. It easily passed the committee and is poised to go before the full House early next week.
Utah is one of just 10 states that does not presently allow the benefit, Hemingway said. Now that the Iraq War is over and military involvement in Afghanistan will be winding down, there may be more reassignments, he said.
"Usually these people being transferred are young with young families and they are giving up a job that may be most of their income," Hemingway said.
The Department of Workforce Services supports the bill, and a fiscal analyst predicted it will affect 49 people and cost $185,000 over the next three budget years.
Both Sen. Luz Robles, D-Salt Lake City, and Rep. Stephen Sandstrom, R-Orem, are proposing that voters be asked to waive the property taxes for certain military members. Robles’ bill, SJR8, would exempt all troops sent into combat for a portion of a year from paying property taxes that year.
Sandstrom’s bill, HJR12, would exempt Guard and Reserve soldiers from paying property taxes when they are deployed.
Robles said Friday that many of the challenges endured by military families are becoming clearer after a decade, and waiving property taxes would be a small gesture of support.
Fiscal analysts project it would mean shifting about $335,000 a year onto other residential and business taxpayers — 16 cents a year for the average house and $1.19 a year for the average business, she said.
"If we can take something off their list of things … to worry about, that’s the minimum we can do to thank them for their service," Robles said.
Utah already has a property tax exemption for disabled veterans.
Robles, who is carrying military-related legislation for Senate Democrats, also intends to propose giving businesses an incentive to hire veterans, and requiring higher-education institutions to waive any tuition charge for veterans that is not covered by the post-9/11 GI bill.
Sandstrom also has asked that bills be written to cover the gap between the GI bill and tuition costs, student loan guarantees for veterans and a tax credit for businesses with a preference for hiring veterans. Those have not yet been introduced.
Rep. Don Ipson, R-St. George, has asked that a bill be written to provide a veteran employment tax credit.
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