With very little fanfare and almost
no news coverage at all, New York
State carried a historic Proposition 1
on the ballot which was voted through
statewide with a 76% margin, to amend
it's state constutition, to grant
elevated points ratings to Veterans
who apply for state civil service
jobs. It goes without saying that amending
any constitution, whether it's state
or national, is a task of epic proportions
but New York, in its time of political
turmoil and upheaval, did manage to
pull off the Proposition 1 upset and this
is good news for Veterans who come to
New York.

On the flip side however, the state budget
went into crisis and both a hiring freeze
and layoffs are at play in the state
civil service system. So this could have
contributed to the low interest level
from New York press.

There was a second bill passed at state
level, effectively granting a special property
tax exemption for Cold War Military Service.

Veterans are advised to wholly ignore that
exemption, and to instead, choose the option
of the regular Veterans Exemption which has
already been in place for many years now.

The Cold War exemption, is NOT an add on,
but instead, an alternative to the regular
NYS Veterans Exemption, which is far better
and larger in dollar amount than the Cold
War Service exemption is.

Veterans are forced to choose between
one or the other, and invoking one will
also cancel out your right to choose the
other. It is best to choose the one that
gives to you the biggest dollar amount
on your property tax.

This Cold War exemption was bungled every
which way, and was largely pushed by
a bunch of Wanna-Be VSO's who were mostly
themselves too too incompetent to know
or understand the workings of the regular
NYS Veterans Exemption, and in the end
of all the bungling on the Cold War exemption,
the Cold War option turned out to be a
whole lot of Nothing at all.

The Cold War tax exemption only covers
up to the first $12,000 of your tax assessment
while the regular NYS Veterans Exemption
is computed on the entirety of your assessment
and gives a "percentage" rating to be
added onto your other potential exemptions
such as Disability or Low Income homeowner.

I know this because I am holding the
regular NYS Veterans exemption myself
and there is no way, after reading the
language of the Cold War exemption, that
I would ever switch. I have already talked
to the Tax Assessors Office directly,
and these programs are NOT "add ons" but
are instead, a one or the other choice
to Veterans. So do NOT get confused by
all the crock of bull propaganda that is
put out on this Cold War exemption.

It is not even worth the paper that
it's written on and it's a complete waste
of time for Veterans to even chase around
on the Cold War exemption program.

It may be give you 5 minutes of a feel
good moment that you are holding that
title, but when you get a load of just
how small it is in execution, then you
will be dropping it like a cold potato
to go back to the regular NYS Veterans
Exemption for property taxes.

Normally I don't carry state issues,
but since New York is confounded and
confused on so many matters, I thought
it important enough to put down all
of the misinformation on it and to
clarify all the bungling from VSO's.

The VSO's here are a bunch of 80
year old white men, wearing ultra
thick bi-focal eyeglasses, who can't
pull their own heads out of a wet
paper bag, so get a clue here about
who was behind this stinking Cold
War Service property tax exemption.

Here are the LINKS below on the
New York State constitution amendment
for advanced standing on civil service
points for employing Veterans.



Language of the Constitution Amendment
(I have no idea at all why the League of
Women Voters were allowed to weigh in on
this)

http://www.smartvoter.org/2008/11/04/ny/state/prop/1/



Statewide Election Results from
New York City Showing the Proposition
Carried by a 76% margin.

http://www.ny1.com/content/the_obama_presidency/electio...ault.aspx?ap=1&Flash

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1182879/new_yo..._historic.html?cat=9