The council adopted the act in an 11-0 vote Monday, with all members asking to join City Council Kateri Walsh as co-sponsors of the proposal. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno, who also served as a sponsor, signed the ordinance Wednesday.
"The local adoption of the state-approved HERO Act is a big step towards honoring the sacrifices that our veterans have made," Walsh said. "It's personal for me. I'm a member of a military family."
Walsh's husband, Daniel Walsh, who died in 2022, served as the city's director of the Veterans Service Office and was a Marine who was seriously wounded in combat in Vietnam.
"My late husband understood and knew about the sacrifices made by the veterans and their families," she said.
The state adopted the comprehensive Act Honoring, Empowering, and Recognizing Our Service Members and Veterans, better known as the HERO Act, this summer. It includes more than 30 initiatives.
One of those provisions gives all communities the opportunity to opt into a tax-relief program that will double the abatement that disabled veterans can receive on their real estate tax bills.
Doubling Down
Currently, the city reduces veterans' real estate taxes by $400 if they have a disability rating of under 100%. Those who are considered 100% disabled can receive a $1,000 reduction in their taxes. By adopting the act, those benefits double to $800 or $2,000, said Patrick Greenhalgh, chairman of the Board of Assessors.
Veterans must submit their applications by April 1 every year to the board to receive the exemption for that year. The new act will take effect for fiscal 2026, which begins in July, he said.
There are currently about 570 veterans who receive real estate reductions in Springfield.
City councilors also discussed different ways to ensure veterans know about the new real estate tax relief, as well as other provisions in the HERO Act.
"If we can find a way to really promote it and get the information out to the community that would be great," City Councilor Tracye Whitfield said.
Greenhalgh said his office mails annual notifications to veterans who have received the tax exemptions before.
The most difficult part is reaching out to veterans with a 100% disability who are eligible for a full exemption of their motor vehicle excise tax, which was streamlined under the HERO Act. That provision, which did not have to be approved by the City Council, previously required veterans to go through a cumbersome process of applying to the medical board of the Registry of Motor Vehicles to receive the exemption. Under the new act, they just have to apply to the Board of Assessors, he said.
The difficulty arises in identifying veterans who rent their homes, because they would not be on Greenhalgh's list. He said anyone who wants to apply or needs information about the excise-tax exemption should call the city's information line at 413-736-3111.
Veterans also are urged to contact the city's Veterans Service Office, as the HERO Act has made many changes, and Director Joe DeCaro said his staff can work with veterans individually.
"There is an expanded definition of what a veteran is to accept other than honorable discharge," he said. "Guidelines for continuous activity have changed."
DeCaro joined state Veterans Services Director Jon Santiago and others at Springfield Technical Community College on Wednesday on a "HERO Act Roadshow" to explain many of the new facets of the law.
- The act includes a dozen provisions to add or expand benefits, including increasing the disabled veteran annuity, expanding the time for veterans to use the active duty service buyback program to 10 years and raising the veterans hire tax credit for small businesses hiring chronically unemployed veterans.
- There are four ways the act will increase inclusion and representation, such as expanding the definition of veterans' dependents and creating a new commission to study challenges faced by veterans and their families.
- A total of eight articles were created to modernize veterans' services, including establishing a working group to study alternate mental health therapies for veterans, adding a military spouse liaison to the Executive Office of Veterans Services and creating a post-traumatic stress disorder commission.
- A half-dozen other provisions will expand the ways the state will honor veterans throughout the year.
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