HB 0061, Engrossed 1 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to property tax exemptions; amending s.
3	196.24, F.S.; entitling disabled veterans and the
4	surviving spouses of such veterans to an exemption from
5	taxation of the value of certain property under certain
6	circumstances; providing for grandfathering persons
7	currently receiving the exemption; providing an effective
8	date.
9
10	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
11
12	Section 1. Section 196.24, Florida Statutes, is amended to
13	read:
14	196.24 Exemption for disabled veteran or surviving spouse
15	ex-service member; evidence of disability.--Any veteran who is
16	ex-service member,a bona fide resident of the state, who has
17	been disabled to a degree of 10 percent or more while serving
18	during a period of wartime service as defined in s. 1.01(14), or
19	by misfortune, is entitled to the exemption from taxation
20	provided for in s. 3(b), Art. VII of the State Constitution as
21	provided in this section. Property to the value of $5,000 of
22	such a person is exempt from taxation. The production by him or
23	her of a certificate of disability from the United States
24	Government or the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
25	or its predecessor before the property appraiser of the county
26	wherein the ex-service member's property lies is prima facie
27	evidence of the fact that he or she is entitled to the
28	exemption. The unremarried surviving spouse of such a disabled
29	veteran who, on the date of the disabled veteran’s death, had
30	been married to the disabled veteran for at least 20 years is
31	also entitled to the exemption. Any person who properly received
32	this exemption as a disabled ex-service member on the 2003 tax
33	roll shall continue to qualify for this exemption.
34	Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.