VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A legislative fix is needed for military spouses who are exempt from paying property taxes, Virginia Beach's Commissioner of the Revenue Phil Kellam told reporters Monday.
The issue is the constitutional amendment that passed by voters in Virginia provides an exemption for the spouses, but it calculates to a different rate than zero, which is what Virginia Beach had made the rate for these spouses.
Some of the spouses may actually now owe property taxes.
Previous coverage: Virginia voters decide whether to approve tax exemption for more military spouses
Kellam worked with State Sen. Aaron Rouse (D-Virginia Beach) and Del. Michael Feggans (D-Virginia Beach) on a legislative fix that would let local governments completely exempt these Gold Star families.
"The minutia of taxes can be quite confusing," Kellam said.
Vanessa Fegyo's husband David was a Navy SEAL who died in 2014 of brain cancer connected to her service.
She was one of five spouses who talked with Kellam on Monday morning.
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"Basically, I go from paying nothing to a couple thousand dollars a year," said Fegyo. "To have a zero property tax bill for some people can be life changing."
The amendment approved in November allows the spouses of service members who died in the line of duty to be exempt.
That added families whose loved ones' deaths were connected to their service, but weren't necessarily because they were killed in action.
Kellam is hopeful lawmakers will take up the issue as they head back to their session in Richmond this week.
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Another bill by Feggans would include the spouses of service members who died by suicide in the exemption.
"Virginia should not rely on antiquated laws that do not allow those benefits to be given to family members," said Feggans.
As for Fegyo, she says the exemption is very beneficial and hopes lawmakers will take action.
"To have this tax relief can offset things that we don't see coming down the pipeline or things that we can do it can help us greatly," she said.
