On Dec. 19, during the end-of-the-year bill signing extravaganza, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed state Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo Jr.’s landmark bill that gives veterans with a 100% disability complete exemption on property taxes. Addabbo, a member of the Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs Committee, introduced the bill at the start of last year in January and worked with members of the non-profit Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to advocate for the law’s benefits throughout the year to fellow senators and the governor.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), there are over 1 million veterans with 100% disability status living in the U.S., with a little over 1,000 of them residing in New York state. To receive 100% disability status from the VA, veterans will have suffered a traumatic injury during their service that makes it impossible for them to find “substantially gainful employment,” and can be as serious as lost limbs or even brain damage.
