Bill to raise homestead tax exclusion for disabled veterans referred to taxes committee

House File 194, introduced during a hearing of the Minnesota House Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, would increase the homestead property valuation exclusions for disabled veterans and certain surviving spouses and was re-referred to the Taxes Committee after a committee voice vote.

Representative Knudson asked for the bill hearing and said the measure would increase the exclusion for veterans rated 100% disabled from $300,000 to $400,000 and increase the exclusion for veterans rated 70% disabled from $150,000 to $200,000. Representative Knudson said the exclusion amounts have not changed since the law was enacted in February 2008 and that inflation and rising home values have reduced the benefit’s purchasing power.

The bill drew supportive testimony from veterans’ advocates and county service staff. Trent Dilkes, legislative director for the Disabled American Veterans Department of Minnesota, told the committee the issue has become the most frequent call he receives from veterans and surviving spouses and said many surviving spouses are at risk of not being able to afford property taxes on modest homes as values rise. "This is not even inflationary," Dilkes said, arguing the proposal is meant to restore the original intent of the exclusion, not to expand it.

Guy Singh, a county service officer from Rochester, Minnesota, said the benefit had been personally valuable and cited local numbers: Olmsted County’s median home value of about $327,000 and roughly 607 veterans and surviving spouses who currently use the benefit there. Brett Sample, executive director of Forgotten Heroes Ranges and Retreat and an Aitkin County commissioner, said rising home values have left long-serving veterans concerned that surviving spouses will struggle after a veteran’s death.

Committee members spoke briefly in support. Representative Ray Rower noted Representative Jerry Newton’s prior backing of the policy and urged support. After brief discussion and closing remarks from Representative Knudson, Chair Bliss moved that House File 194 be re-referred to the Taxes Committee. The committee approved the referral by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded.

The legislation would change the statutory valuation-exclusion amounts set when the exclusion was enacted in 2008 and does not, in the committee hearing, include an automatic inflation adjustment. Testimony said the author and advocates hope to add technical fixes and possibly an indexing mechanism at later stages. The Minnesota Department of Revenue property tax division provided preliminary county-level analysis to advocates, and advocates said they will share detailed fiscal numbers with the committee as they compile them.

Votes at a glance House File 194 — Recommendation to re-refer to the Taxes Committee: motion carried by voice vote; no roll-call recorded. Outcome: referred to Taxes Committee.

The committee did not adopt final policy in this hearing; the referral moves the bill to the Taxes Committee for fiscal review and potential amendment.