Bay County Property Appraiser: Veteran Exemptions and the Combat Discount

The exemptions are the State's; the Florida entries explain them. The Bay County Property Appraiser (Dan Sowell, CFA) grants them from the Exemptions Department, 860 W. 11th Street, Panama City (850-248-8401, fax 850-248-8447), with a beach office at 301 Richard Jackson Blvd, Panama City Beach (850-248-8470), weekdays 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central. The Appraiser's site answers a Cloudflare block to plain requests; this entry was re-read live on 2026-10-17 in a visible browser window, which the block lets through. What the exemptions page lists for veterans. It sets out each veteran exemption with its statute and the paper to bring with the in-office application: - the $5,000 exemption for a disabled ex-servicemember or unremarried surviving spouse (196.24), for a veteran discharged under honourable conditions and disabled 10% or more, on "a certificate of disability (e.g. rating decision letter, summary of benefits letter)", with the marriage and death certificates for a spouse; - the full exemption for a totally and permanently disabled veteran and the surviving spouse (196.081), on a VA rating decision or benefits summary letter, with the spouse's carry-over and transfer to a new home; - the wheelchair veteran exemption (196.091), on a VA certificate of the specially adapted housing assistance; - the surviving spouse of a veteran who died of service-connected causes on active duty (196.081), on a VA or U.S. Government letter; - the combat-related discount for veterans 65 and older (196.082), on the DD-214, the VA rating decision, evidence of the combat-related share if the letter does not show it, and proof of age; and - the deployed servicemember exemption (196.173), on form DR-501M with deployment orders - "NATO Orders cannot be used" - such as a DD Form 1610 or CED orders, against the Department of Revenue's current list of designated operations. For each of the first four the page adds that "An applicant may apply for the exemption before receiving the necessary documentation", and that the exemption is then granted from the original application date with excess taxes refunded within the four-year limit. When. The page's later text and section 196.011 put the deadline for every exemption at March 1, with late filing for extenuating circumstances, but its opening lines say applications "must be made by March 6th" and that failing to apply "by March 3th" waives the exemption. File by March 1. The checklist. The Appraiser's three-page Exemptions Checklist (form REVPA012023, re-posted August 2025) asks a "Disabled Veteran" for a "VA letter stating the percentage of disability", a totally and permanently disabled veteran for a VA letter stating "Total & Permanently Disabled", and the surviving spouse of one for a certified death certificate only. It lists the combat discount as the "Disabled Veteran's Preference Discount" (Florida residence with homestead, age 65 on January 1, an honorable discharge and "currently receiving combat-related VA disability", shown with the DD-214 and a VA letter of the combat-related percentage). Its "Deployed Military Discount" list asks for orders, the travel voucher, and a memorandum from the squadron commander "if orders do not disclose OIF, OEF, New Dawn, Noble Eagle & Odyssey Dawn" - but section 196.173(2), last amended in 2026, does not list Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom, New Dawn or Odyssey Dawn; it names twenty-two operations, among them Noble Eagle, Spartan Shield, Inherent Resolve, Freedom's Sentinel, Pacific Eagle and Southern Spear. A servicemember deployed in support of any listed operation, or a subordinate one, should apply. The checklist does not mention the wheelchair exemption at all, and like the exemptions page it does not say that the combat discount equals the whole permanent rating of which the combat-related part qualifies. Online filing. The Appraiser's Homestead Online page sends applicants to the property search, where a homestead application link sits on each parcel; the exemptions page says the veteran exemptions go "along with the in-office application".