Will San Antonio community prove how they value veterans?

Veterans seek voter support for Props. 1, 4
My San Antonio
BY SCOTT HUDDLESTON
OCTOBER 28, 2013

A wounded Iraq veteran and a war widow who grieves the loss of a husband and father put a human face last week on a low-key statewide election on Nov. 5.

Veterans and politicians gathered Thursday to support Propositions 1 and 4, two of nine proposed state constitutional amendments. Both would provide property-tax relief to two groups of Texans who have borne a heavy burden from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Donna Engeman, whose husband, Chief Warrant Officer John Engeman, was killed at age 45 by a 2006 explosion in Iraq, said she's more fortunate that most Gold Star spouses. They typically are young wives, often with small children, with little experience in money management, she said after a news conference at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 76.

Proposition 1 would give spouses of troops killed in action a full tax exemption based on the value of the first home they own once losing a husband or wife, unless they remarry. Engeman said some widows who lost husbands in Vietnam and more recent wars later lost their homes, unable to pay taxes and living costs.

“This is truly a lifesaver, to allow them to keep their homes. To imagine a spouse having to lose their family home, it's such a tragedy,” said Engeman, who served as an Army mechanic and now works locally as an advocate for surviving military family members.

Taxes and living costs also have forced at least two wounded veterans who received donated homes from charities into foreclosure, said J.R. Garza, a local Vietnam veteran and veterans advocate.

Wounded veterans who move from an apartment to one of the dozens of new houses, typically spacious and equipped with accessibility features, can expect to pay at least $7,000 more annually in taxes and utility costs, he said.

Proposition 4 would provide a tax break commensurate to a veteran's disability rating, for veterans or surviving spouses, on homes donated by charities. A veteran who is 70 percent disabled would have a 70 percent tax reduction. Texas has provided a full property tax exemption since 2009 for veterans with a 100 percent rating, but no discount for partially disabled vets.
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