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Tax aid extended to dead or hurt soldiers' families

By BILL VARIAN
Published August 17, 2006

Hillsborough County commissioners voted Wednesday to extend a property tax rebate program by five years for families of soldiers killed or disabled in combat areas.

The vote was 6-0, with Commissioner Ronda Storms absent.

Immediate family members of people killed or maimed in the line of duty would be eligible for up to $1,500 in property tax grants for five years. Those who are disabled would receive a portion of that amount based on the level of their disability.

"It's basically support for keeping the family structure together," Hillsborough Commission Chairman Jim Norman said afterward. "We can be the strongest county in America supporting our military by doing this."

Norman has already won approval to provide a similar rebate to soldiers' families while they serve in combat zones. About 450 families have signed up at a cost to the county of about $700,000.

The commission has budgeted $1-million annually for the program, so the county staff believes it can absorb adding families who are killed or disabled.

Norman said he felt compelled to do more after a ceremony two weeks ago recognizing the families of four Hillsborough County residents who had lost military members overseas.

That day he choked up while addressing the family of Bryan Christian Luckey, who was killed in Mosul, Iraq, on June 29. And at least two other commissioners broke into tears when Norman read that Luckey's wife found out she was pregnant with his son on the day after he died.

[Last modified August 17, 2006, 06:23:38]