Veterans who have disabilities that keep them from holding a full-time job might need help, and Amendment G would give them a modest break on property taxes.
At its simplest, passing Colorado Amendment G would expand the availability of the state’s current homestead property tax exemption to military veterans who do not have a service-connected disability rated as a 100% permanent disability, but have individual unemployability status. This would be a Constitutional amendment, and would need 55% of voters to pass.
The Colorado General Assembly referred what is now known as Amendment G to the ballot by passing House Concurrent Resolution 23-1002. The resolution passed the state House and Senate on unanimous votes.
The current Colorado Constitution contains language about the homestead exemption, which exempts 50% of the first $200,000 property value from taxation for qualifying Coloradans. This currently includes senior citizens, veterans with a disability rated 100% permanent, and certain surviving spouses of veterans who died in the line of duty or from a service-related injury or disease. As noted above, passing Amendment G would expand eligibility to include veterans with individual unemployability status.
To qualify for the Amendment G property tax exemptions, veterans must qualify for a Total Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU) rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This webpage from the Department of Veterans Affairs might be a good quick resource for readers interested in factors that can lead to a TDIU rating. In very brief, qualifying veterans must be unable to hold down a steady job, due to having either one service-related disability rated at 60% or more disabling, or two disabilities with at least one rated at 40% or more and a combined rating of 70% or more.
According to the fiscal note for HCR 23-1002 which was written in 2023, the state anticipated that Amendment G could cost the state $2.1 million due to refunds and reimbursements to local governments in FY 2025-26, then $2.8 million in FY 2026-27, and by similar amounts in future years. The fiscal note also anticipated that about “3,400 veterans who are not otherwise able to claim the homestead exemption will claim the exemption.” Colorado Blue Book numbers from 2024 are slightly different, anticipating that Amendment G would cost the state about $1.8 million in FY 2025-26 while extending the exemption to about 3,700 veterans.
Richard’s Take
I’ll vote “yes” on Amendment G. It’s a good-faith benefit for veterans with disabilities, and the overall price tag for the state is not that large in the grand scheme of things. Frugal people might wish to be aware that the price tag will probably be $2 million and up every year for many years into the future. Some might wonder why the federal government might not be doing enough for individuals who served their country, and I think that would be a fair thing to question into the future, but passing Amendment G would help some Colorado veterans almost right away.
