Veterans School Tax Exemption

Letter to the Editor

In the November 1st edition of the Oswego County News, Kevin Hill outlined his views on providing school tax exemptions for veterans. His impassioned plea was requesting the Oswego City School District to provide veterans with a tax exemption on school taxes. The school superintendent Ray Kilmer basically said, “We will study it and get back to you”.

This is not a new issue; I believe it was in the 2014-15 timeframe that the New York State Legislators passed a bill allowing school districts to adopt school tax exemptions for veterans. The caveat is the often-used language used by many bills passed by our elected officials, The language starts out by stating, school districts “may” adopt veterans’ exemptions. This one word provides an easy out for school districts; in New York State only 41% of districts opted to provide exemptions and many of those in a reduced amount. These laws, though well intended, do not provide any additional funding from the state, just another unfunded law which places the burden on other taxpayers. A state-funded veterans’ school tax exemption program would achieve the goal without shifting the tax burden to taxpayers in any given school district, otherwise it is up to the school districts to do the right thing in supporting veterans.

If the state can afford to send out $400 checks and to provide billions of dollars on illegals, can they not afford to provide tax relief to veterans. Having passed this bill was an empty gesture to our veterans. New York ranks number thirty in benefits to veterans at $41.00 per veteran. The New York State Veterans population has declined 35% in the last ten years, resulting in a $1.4 million reduction in the Veterans Service budget for 2025-26. It is estimated that the current NY State veteran population is 580,000; those dwindling numbers are a result of deaths, but a great percentage of veterans are just moving out of New York.

I agree with Mr. Hill and it is time for Oswego County to revisit the school tax exemption for Veterans. Oswego County citizens have rallied to the colors and have always understood what it means when it comes to Duty, Honor and Country. If you want to thank a veteran and honor those who serve; be an American worth fighting for.

Jack Rucynski, CSM US Army Retired

604 County Route 22, Parish, NY 13131 [email protected]

315-532-8477

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