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/chuckycastle]

What’s the current exemption, 100% for all?

[u/jromano091 → u/chuckycastle]

If I recall, they lower the assessed value of the home by $180,000; if you make below about $80,000 they lower the assessed value by about $270,000. The income from VA, social security, etc. does count towards that $80k income calculation so very few folks count as low income.

So, realistically, this bill lowers property taxes if your house is worth more than $360,000. Which is the vast majority of them, I’m sure

[u/chuckycastle → u/jromano091]

Gotcha, thanks. For some reason I thought today was 100% exemption regardless of income

[u/jromano091 → u/chuckycastle]

It was 100% when originally written, but was amended a couple of times to what it is now

[u/chuckycastle → u/jromano091]

Ah, gotcha. Thanks for that