Property taxation: exemption: disabled veteran homeowners.

A bipartisan coalition of California senators, led by Senator Archuleta, proposes a decade-long property tax exemption for fully disabled veterans and their unmarried surviving spouses. The measure would create a new exemption category for veterans rated 100% disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs due to service-connected injuries or diseases, applying to their primary residences from 2025 through 2034.

The exemption would extend to properties owned individually by veterans or jointly with spouses, including various ownership structures such as joint tenancy and community property. Unmarried surviving spouses would retain the exemption if the veteran qualified during their lifetime or died from service-connected causes. The bill requires claimants to provide documentation from the VA or military service branch to verify eligibility, and exemption amounts would adjust annually based on California's Consumer Price Index.

To monitor implementation, the State Board of Equalization must collect data from county assessors and report annually to the Legislature on the number of recipients and total assessed value exempted. While the measure creates new duties for local tax officials, it explicitly states that local agencies will not receive state reimbursement for resulting revenue reductions. The exemption would replace, rather than supplement, existing property tax benefits available to disabled veterans under current law.