Politics & Government

Council Approves Veteran Tax Exemption Amendment

The amendment will offer active duty service members and Gold Star families a $1,000 tax break on their homes.

At their Jan. 13 meeting, members of the Coventry Town Council approved an amendment to the town Code of Ordinances that will provide a tax break for property owners who are active duty service members or Gold Star families of the United States armed forces.

The amendment was made to Chapter 217 (Taxation), Article IV, Exemption for Veterans, Section 217-12, and will provide a "$1,000 tax exemption on real property situated in the Town for any person owning and occupying said property who is an active member of the armed forces of the United States, as allowed under RI General Law."

Councilwoman Karen Carlson proposed the amendment after she was contacted by a constituent who inquired about a veteran discount as her husband is currently an active duty service member. Coventry's Code of Ordinances did actually contain an enabling act for the discount, however it was never enacted by a council.

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"After speaking with this resident, I felt very strongly that this was something I needed to do," Carlson said.

"I believe the entire council feels this was something that needed to be done," said Council President Gary Cote. "Thank you Karen for catching this, pointing it out and giving us the opportunity to fix it. We don't do enough for our active service members, or our retired service members for that matter in my opinion and I'm glad we were given the chance to correct this."

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