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St. Mary’s County delays change to disabled-veteran property tax credit pending state data
Summary
County commissioners were told state law limits who the county can include in a disability-based property tax credit and agreed to defer any change until Maryland Veterans Affairs provides county-level data on veterans’ disability ratings and income.
St. Mary’s County commissioners on March 9 deferred consideration of changes to a property tax credit for disabled veterans until county staff obtain county-specific data from Maryland Veterans Affairs.
The pause came after county budget staff reviewed the statute that defines eligibility and found limits on local discretion. “The statute defines a disabled veteran as one who has a permanent service-connected disability of at least 50%,” a staff member explained during the meeting, saying the law also prescribes a 50% credit for the class of veterans with 75%–99% service-connected disability.
The legal language limits what the county can change, staff said. Commissioners were told the county may set a lower maximum adjusted gross income threshold than $100,000, but cannot reduce the disability rating minimum below 50% or change the statutorily required credit percentage for the 75%–99% bracket. Budget staff said they have not yet received the county-specific disability-rating breakdown from Maryland Veterans Affairs and that prior federal requests for related statistics have taken about two weeks to return.
Commissioners asked staff to continue pursuing the data and to return with firm counts before deciding whether to lower the income threshold (examples discussed included $75,000) or otherwise alter eligibility. One commissioner said a better firm count of potentially eligible veterans is necessary before making any change. Staff said they have contacted state and local veterans service offices and the secretary’s office but had not yet received the requested breakdown.
The discussion covered statutory constraints, possible administrative changes the county can make (an AGI cap below $100,000), and outstanding information needs. Commissioners directed staff to bring the matter back to a future budget work session once the Maryland Veterans Affairs or the county service center provides the county-level statistics.
The action was procedural: no ordinance or vote was passed on March 9; the commission deferred a decision pending receipt of the state data.
