Baltimore County and the Disabled Veteran Exemption

Baltimore County has not adopted the local disabled veteran credit in Tax-Property Article section 9-265, the retiree credit in 9-258, or either surviving spouse credit. The county code, current to July 2026, has none, and the Office of Budget and Finance's list of tax credits names only the state exemption for veterans. A veteran rated below 100% gets no county property tax credit for service or disability. The state exemption in section 7-208 covers a veteran rated 100% service-connected, permanent, and total, or found permanently unemployable, and the surviving spouse. It is granted by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation and is a State entry. The county adds two things. Metropolitan District charges. The Department of Public Works says a disabled veteran who pays no property tax, and the surviving spouse, are exempt from all Metropolitan District charges and from certain construction loan charges: water and sewer deficit charges, water and sewer property connection charges, and water and sewer system connection charges. The special water and sewer installation charge, the private plumber's bill, is not exempt. The department sends applicants to SDAT, so the state exemption is what carries the charge relief. The refund. The county's page says to get the exemption from SDAT first and then send a copy of the approval, with a letter asking for a refund, to the Baltimore County Council, 400 Washington Avenue, Room 205, Towson, Maryland 21204. County Code section 11-2-106 says the Council "may refund" and bars a refund for any year more than three years before the date of the refund application. The statute is broader on both counts. Section 7-208(g) says the county "shall pay a refund" for every taxable year in which the exemption was authorized but not granted, provided the veteran applies for the exemption within the three-year period that begins with the calendar year of first eligibility, and SDAT measures the refund from the effective date of the disability. Section 7-208(h) adds interest when the county has not paid within 60 days. A veteran whose VA effective date reaches back further than three years should cite section 7-208(g) in the letter. A person with this exemption cannot also take the county's blind individual exemption.