Westchester County property owners who are veterans, active-duty service members, or surviving spouses of fallen first responders moved a step closer to property tax relief on Monday, July 27. That includes eligible homeowners in Rye, Harrison, and Rye Brook.
The county Legislature's Legislation Committee, meeting jointly with the Budget & Appropriations Committee, passed four local law amendments and four companion public hearing resolutions at a 10 a.m. session in the Committee Room at the Michaelian Office Building in White Plains. All eight items were signed by committee and passed, according to the published draft minutes on the county's Legistar site.
Who benefits
The four laws cover distinct groups of county property owners:
- Surviving spouses of police officers killed in the line of duty (Local Law 2026-313)
- Surviving spouses of volunteer firefighters and volunteer ambulance services members killed in the line of duty (Local Law 2026-315)
- Active-duty members of the armed forces serving in a combat zone (Local Law 2026-324)
- Seriously disabled veterans injured in the line of duty (Local Law 2026-326)
Each local law amends the county's existing real property tax exemption code. The companion resolutions (2026-312, 2026-314, 2026-323, and 2026-325) set public hearing dates so residents can weigh in before final adoption.
How the measures got here
Majority Leader Judah Holstein and Minority Leader Margaret Cunzio introduced the first batch of measures at the Monday, June 29 Board of Legislators meeting, where the items were received, filed, and referred to committee on a unanimous motion, according to the published minutes. The two veterans-focused measures, covering combat-zone service members and seriously disabled veterans, carry higher file numbers, indicating they were introduced after June 29 and brought directly to the July 27 joint committee.
The local laws align with a recent state-level change. New York enacted a new property tax exemption for veterans with a permanent and total service-connected disability under Real Property Tax Law Section 458-a(11), according to the state Department of Taxation and Finance. That state exemption applies to assessment rolls with taxable status dates on or after October 1, 2026.
The Westchester measures implement those protections at the county level.
What happens next
Monday's committee-level passage is not the final step. All four local laws must still be adopted by the full Westchester County Board of Legislators, and public hearings must be held before that vote. The next full Board meeting date has not been announced.
No official statement from County Executive Ken Jenkins or individual legislators on these measures was available at publication.
Residents can track the legislation and find public hearing dates at westchestercountyny.legistar.com.
