by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
The City has more than doubled its original $150,000 commitment to a property tax refund program aimed at war veterans after a surprisingly strong response swamped its Veteran’s Services Administration and ate up funding.
The City will now pay $400,000 back to Armed Service members who served in a war zone last year. Those eligible receive refunds up to $2,000 on their 2004 property taxes.
City Council member Art Shad, a Gulf War Veteran, proposed the program as a way to thank and support area war veterans and their families. It eventually passed the Council unanimously and was funded with $150,000 from the Council Reserve.
The response was tepid at first, but demand grew quickly in Jacksonville’s military community as word of the program spread. In the first six weeks after the program opened Jan. 25, the City’s Military Affairs and Veteran’s Services Division had approved 75 applications and spent about half the original budget, according to an e-mail sent March 7 by Military Affairs Director Dan McCarthy to the mayor’s staff.
But in the following two weeks, the City approved 325 more applications and put another $250,000 into the program to pay for it. The City received applications from active duty and reserve soldiers and sailors representing every military branch and originating from all 58 local commands.
McCarthy said the surge of applications quadrupled his staff’s workload. The refunds have averaged $1,000.
The extra funding was consistent with the City’s original intent to support its veterans, said Susie Wiles, a mayor’s office spokesperson. But, although more applications could very well be headed for City Hall, the mayor’s office will not fund the program further, she said.
The City has spent all it can afford, said Wiles.
“This was always a first-come, first-serve program and we are at capacity now,” said Wiles. “It appears that the demand may well exceed the supply of the money.”
McCarthy expects more applications, but he thinks most eligible troops have already applied.
The City didn’t know how many local troops would be eligible for the program. Duval County’s military population exceeds 80,000 but, to claim the deduction, service members must have current enlistments, claim a homestead exemption on property in Duval County and have to have received combat pay in 2004.
“Military personnel that own houses and served in combat in 2004? I don’t have those numbers,” said McCarthy. “But the sense is that most of the people who are eligible have realized it and applied while the money is available.”
The number of applications has dropped off in the last week, he said.
Even at $400,000, McCarthy said the program was a wise investment for the City. The program is unique to Jacksonville and, he said, reflects well on the City at a time when the Pentagon is looking at areas to cut bases.
“This program has been written up in every military publication. The Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld) took notice of this program. The Chief of Naval Operations (Adm. Vern Clark) will be here tomorrow, he knows about the commitment Jacksonville makes to its troops.”
As for the civilian taxpayer who might cry foul, McCarthy said they should remember what the military member has to do to qualify.
“People might look at this and say ‘Why are they getting money back and I’m not?” said McCarthy. “The answer to that is that these are people who have done an extraordinary thing, they’ve represented their country in battle.”
Shad wants the program continued next year, but the mayor’s office is non-committal.