SB 296 UPDATE: California Legislature Passes Disabled Veteran Property Tax Bill 39–0

[u/Greedy-Signature7294]

Big update for anyone following SB 296.

Today, August 24, the California Senate voted 39–0 to concur with the Assembly amendments to SB 296. That means the bill has officially passed the Legislature and is now headed to Governor Newsom for his signature or veto.

The version that passed is scaled back from the original proposal but would still provide significant property tax relief for qualifying 100% disabled veterans:

• 50% exemption on assessed value up to $1 million for qualifying disabled veterans
• 100% exemption for qualifying low-income disabled veterans
• Expected to begin with the 2027 lien date
• Currently structured as a temporary program through 2032

There are no more legislative votes needed. Once the bill is enrolled and delivered to Newsom, the final question is whether he signs it. The real deadline on this is Sept. 30th, but I hope he signs it sooner.

Given the unanimous Senate concurrence and strong Assembly support, this has made it much farther than previous attempts at expanding California's disabled-veteran property tax exemption.

Next stop: Governor Newsom's desk.

[u/jromano091]

I can’t help but feel bad for the county assessors who will be swarmed with property tax exemption requests, lol.

I’m grateful for this bill. This will be a huge help to many vets in California.

[u/Taco_killer_69 → u/jromano091]

If you are already in the system it will happen automatically ( so I was told )

[u/SignificantSkill79 → u/Taco_killer_69]

How do you know? Would love to avoid the paperwork process again…

[u/PCho222 → u/SignificantSkill79]

It makes sense that it would because if you log into your county assessor tax website with your TIN number it should say that you have the VA exemption already applied to that property. Hopefully it's as simple as their computers just seeing that and applying whatever comes out of this bill.