[Adopted 2-12-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-02]
A. 
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.30 et seq., qualified totally disabled veterans, and unmarried surviving spouses of qualified totally disabled veterans, owning and occupying a dwelling in the Township of Colts Neck shall be eligible for a property tax exemption upon completion of the necessary application materials to be filed with the Township's Tax Assessor.
B. 
An eligible veteran shall be defined as a member of the United States Armed Forces who was either honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active wartime service, as defined by the New Jersey Legislature, who is a legal resident of New Jersey that owns and occupies the home they are seeking a property tax exemption on as their principal residence, and who has been certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to have a wartime service-connected disability stating you are 100% permanently and totally disabled.
C. 
Surviving spouses of totally disabled veterans may qualify for the exemption if they can provide a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs certification of wartime service-connected disability stating the deceased veteran was 100% permanently and totally disabled, or died, during active wartime service. They must also confirm that the deceased spouse was a legal resident of New Jersey at death. The surviving spouse must be a current resident of New Jersey that owns and occupies the home as a principal residence. Finally the surviving spouse must show they have not remarried or formed a new registered civil union/domestic partnership.
A. 
In order to qualify for the property tax exemption, the veteran or qualified surviving spouse must first obtain a determination from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that the veteran was 100% permanently and totally disabled based upon wartime service.
B. 
Next, the veteran or someone on his/her behalf, under oath, must file a written claim with the Township's Tax Assessor's office. The Tax Assessor's office will supply the applicant with the appropriate paperwork and the applicant will be required to provide the Tax Assessor's office with the following information:
(1) 
Reason for exemption;
(2) 
A description of the property for which the exemption is claimed;
(3) 
A certificate of claimant's honorable discharge or release under honorable circumstances from active service, in time of war and a certificate/letter from the United States Veteran's Administration or its successors, certifying to a service connected disability;
(4) 
Any other documentation as required by statute at the time the application is made.
A. 
In order for a surviving spouse of a veteran to qualify for the municipal tax exemption, the spouse, under oath, must file a written claim with the Tax Assessor's office. The Tax Assessor's office will supply the surviving spouse with the appropriate paperwork and the applicant will be required to provide the Tax Assessor's office with the following information:
(1) 
Proof to establish that the spouse is the owner of legal title to the premises on which the exemption is made;
(2) 
That the surviving spouse occupies the dwelling house on said premises as the surviving spouse's legal residence in the State of New Jersey;
(3) 
That the veteran has been declared by the United States Veteran's Administration to have a service-connected disability or that the veteran shall have been declared to have died in active service in time of war;
(4) 
That the veteran is or would have been entitled to the exemption at the time of death;
(5) 
The surviving spouse is a resident of the State of New Jersey and has not remarried.
In determining a grant of a property tax exemption under this section, the Township will pro-rate the exemption for the remainder of the year in which application is made and accepted by the Township. Additionally, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 54:4-3.32 the Township shall refund the veteran or surviving spouse all taxes previously paid for the year in which the application to the Township is made, retroactive to January 1 of said year. There shall be no further retroactive refund granted, regardless of the disability date determination of the United States Veteran's Administration.