National Guard veterans don't receive property tax exemptions in RI. A bill could change that

Sen. Linda Ujifusa is sponsoring a bill that would amend state law to allow veterans of the United States National Guard who served in military conflicts to receive exemptions on their property taxes.

“The brave men and women who served in combat areas in the National Guard should be eligible for the same tax benefits as our other veterans,” said Ujifusa, D-Portsmouth, in a press release. “This bill is the least we can do to show our appreciation for their sacrifice.”

Speaking to The Daily News, Ujifusa, who is a member of the Senate Special Legislation and Veterans’ Affairs Committee, was quick to give credit for the proposal to her predecessor in District 11.

“My predecessor Jim Seveney had been working on it,” she explained, “and when I first got elected he flagged this.”

She said she has not discussed the bill with any constituents, but called it a “no-brainer” to include National Guard veterans alongside veterans of the active duty branches of the US armed services.

State law provides a $1,000 property tax exemption to veterans who served in active conflict settings

Under current state law (Section 44-3-4 of RI General Laws entitled "Property Subject to Taxation"), active duty military veterans who served in a war, conflict or undeclared war – including every veteran who served from 1947-1991 during the Cold War – are eligible for a $1,000 exemption on their property taxes.

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There is an additional tax exemption for veterans who were prisoners of war, an additional $10,000 exemption from local taxation on real property for some disabled veterans and disabled veterans who own homesteads acquired or modified with a grant from the VA may be completely tax exempt. Some municipalities have also passed ordinances providing larger exemptions to combat veterans.

Veterans of the National Guard are not eligible for such exemptions, even if they were deployed to a conflict zone.

The National Guard has frequently been deployed to combat settings throughout American history

“You would think National Guard veterans would be included naturally, and they would get the same benefits,” said Anselm Richards, a National Guard veteran who fought in Iraq and now serves as the Newport VFW post commander. “My ID card never said National Guard; it said Army. Why would we not be treated the same? I wear the same uniform, I take the same tests, I’m held to the same standard and I fight the same enemy.”

Noting the history of service of guardsmen predates the establishment of the United States, Richards continued, “What’s fair is fair – bullets don’t discriminate, right? Tours of duty don’t discriminate. Why are we treating one veteran or one servicemember any different than another?”

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The Rhode Island National Guard traces its history from “the Trainee Band” in Portsmouth, which was the first colonial defensive force established in Rhode Island on May 13, 1638. Since then the RI National Guard has served in conflicts including World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Noble Eagle and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In these latter three operations, part of what the federal government has nebulously termed the Global War on Terror, the RI Guard suffered its first combat casualties since World War II.

Sen. Louis Dipalma, D-Middletown, who heads the finance committee where Ujifusa’s bill is currently waiting to be discussed, agrees that National Guard combat veterans deserve to be included in the tax exemption.

Dipalma, who said he expected the bill to come up on the finance committee’s docket in late April or May, said, “(National Guard combat veterans) categorically should be included…anything involving money you have to talk about the policy first. Put the money aside. We should do it if it’s the right policy, and then we have to figure out if we can afford it.”

Municipal property tax exemptions for Newport County combat veterans

• Newport: the property tax exemption for combat veterans is $4,000.

• Tiverton: the town council may provide an additional tax credit of $200 or greater.

• Little Compton: may exempt real property of totally disabled veterans up to $6,000.

• Middletown: may exempt the real property of totally disabled veterans in the amount of  $5,000.

• Portsmouth: may provide for an exemption of $2,000 on real property.

• Jamestown: may provide for a tax credit or exemption to any veteran of the United States armed services regardless of their qualified service dates, who was honorably discharged or who was discharged under conditions other than dishonorable, or to the unmarried widow or widower of that person.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Property tax exemptions in RI for National Guard proposed at Statehouse