Our Vets Finally Get Well-Deserved Tax Relief:
Our Push to Pass
the Alternative Veterans
Exemption Succeeded

As you know, last year introduced legislation that would expand the existing Alternative Veterans Exemption to include the school district tax. For years, the veterans exemption was chipped away by the rising school tax and made it harder for vets to get the full benefits that they earned.

This legislation will provide significant property tax savings to more than 58,000 veterans and their families. The additional exemption from the school portion of the property tax bill will be about $440 for the average veteran household - which would more than double the total average property tax savings for the veterans exemption to more than $850 per year.

The cost of living in this City continues to rise every year, and veterans as they age are being priced out of New York. They deserve to be able to stay in our community, and it is to the benefit of all that these brave men and women continue to call Staten Island their home.

I want to thank the Mayor, Speaker Mark-Viverito and my City Council colleagues - particularly Joe Borelli, Debi Rose, Julissa Ferreras-Copeland and Eric Ulrich - for their strong support of this legislation and their commitment to our veterans.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention our partners in the State Legislature - led by Senator Andrew Lanza and Assemblyman Michael Cusick - who passed enabling legislation to make this possible.

I also want to thank our veterans for support this effort and for their service to our country.