Mattituck school board approves veterans tax exemption
School property tax relief is coming to veterans living within the Mattituck-Cutchogue School District next school year.
The school board voted 6-0 without discussion at Tuesday’s meeting to approve a “basic maximum” exemption, which is expected to increase property taxes for all other district residents by about $17 annually. Board vice president Charlie Anderson was absent.
The exemption benefit for disabled veterans is $40,000; veterans that served in war is $12,000; and $8,000 for veterans that served in a combat zone, according to school documents.
The school board also approved an exemption for Gold Star parents living within the district. The designation is given when a child dies in the line of duty while serving in the Armed Forces during a period of war, according to online state documents.
While property tax exemptions for veterans have been in effect statewide since the 1980s, they have until now only been applied to the county and town portions of a veteran’s tax bill. Last year, the state Legislature approved an amendment to expand the program to school districts, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law last December.
Southold and Shoreham-Wading River are the only local school districts to have adopted the exemption in time for the current fiscal year. In Riverhead, the school board approved an exemption in April and it will go into effect in 2015-16.
The Southold Town assessor’s office recently estimated Mattituck has 683 veterans living within the district who could qualify for the program.
