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.