Ontario County disabled veterans press local municipalities to adopt property and school tax break

Ontario County disabled veterans press local municipalities to adopt property and school tax break Jennifer Lewke News10NBC News10NBC Investigates: Ontario County disabled veterans still waiting on full New York property tax break VICTOR, N.Y. — Disabled veterans in Ontario County are growing frustrated with local leaders who have not decided whether to offer a full property tax break. New York now allows a full property and school tax break for veterans who are permanently and totally disabled but local municipalities must opt in for the veterans to receive it. Monroe County and several towns within it have already opted in but surrounding counties have not moved as quickly. “I was hoping that when you see Monroe County, Erie County, the City of Buffalo, a lot of the bigger towns and cities doing it, it would be a cascading effect,” says DJ Moore, a Navy Veteran who lives in Ontario County. Moore went to his town supervisor to ask about whether the town would be approving it and, “the immediate response was, “well some of these veterans have $400,000 houses” and my immediate retort was, well, they bought them at $150,000 and paid for them at $150,000 and because of assessments and everything else that keeps going up and up and up, you’re basically pushing them out of the home so you can get people you think will pay the taxes into them,” Moore says. John Prater, commander of the Victor American Legion, said he is frustrated that most towns and cities in Ontario County don’t seem to be in any hurry to discuss the tax break. “You talk about it a lot, be about it…Put your money where your mouth is and support your veterans or you’re going to show us who you really are,” Prater says. Offering the tax break does not cost the municipality anything but it shifts the burden to other taxpayers. There are between 250 and 300 veterans in Ontario County who might qualify medically, but not all of them own homes.  “You’re looking at anywhere between $2 and $8 a month, so a trip to Starbucks, that’s what you’re looking at,” Moore says. The county and several towns within in, tell News10NBC they are still collecting data and considering the tax break. Prater says it is a small cost, “it’s peanuts, they pay more money for these businesses to come in here and get tax exemptions.” The Ontario County Board of Supervisors has a meeting scheduled for Thursday, November 19th at 6:30pm. Prater is planning to have a contingent of veterans there to push them to consider the tax break.