Over 100,000 Kentucky military veterans, who sacrificed and served their country honorably, belong to Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) such as the VFW, American Legion, AMVETS and others. These "Posts" provide support to veterans and active military and contribute greatly to local civilian charitable causes and patriotic education in their communities.
Many of these Posts own property with a modest building where gatherings take place and Post business is conducted.
The Federal IRS recognizes VSOs as charitable, non-profit organizations that are exempt from paying federal income tax. However, Kentucky government administrators do not recognize them as "Institutions of Purely Public Charity" (the words used in the Kentucky Constitution) because those words are nowhere defined, resulting in Posts who own property paying significant and burdensome local property taxes. In some cases these taxes are threatening their very financial viability.
Two bills have been pre-filed in the Kentucky Legislature for the January 2020 session.
They are BR 127 and BR 247. Each of these bills takes a slightly different legislative approach but both result in VSOs being exempt from property tax.
We need your signatures and will hopefully present tens of thousands of them to our state legislators in December, before the session begins, asking them to vote in support of these bills.
If you sign this on-line petition the only information that will be visible is your name and state of residence and time you signed it. No other information such as email, phone, or address will be visible.
