Erie County's Department of Veteran Services, in the Erie Intermodal Transportation Center on Bayfront Parkway since 2023, is the county director's office: VA compensation, pension and survivors' claims, the State real estate tax exemption, Veterans' Temporary Assistance, county burial benefits and the recording of discharges. Its FAQ still sends veterans to the Courthouse. Call 814-451-6270.
Also called: county director of veterans affairs, CVSO, Erie, Bayfront Parkway, Intermodal Transportation Center, claims help, DD-214, RETX, VTA.
The Erie County Department of Veteran Services is the office every Pennsylvania county must have: a director of veterans affairs appointed by the county (16 Pa.C.S. 15524). See the Pennsylvania entry on county directors. Director Joe Benacci; Erie Intermodal Transportation Center, 208 E. Bayfront Parkway, Suite 102, Erie PA 16507; 814-451-6270 (the FAQ also gives 814-451-7675, and 814-451-6265 for temporary assistance).
What it does. Service-connected compensation, Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, aid and attendance, pension and survivors' pension; VA health care enrolment and CHAMPVA; the State real estate tax exemption, Veterans' Temporary Assistance, the amputee and paralyzed and blind veterans' pensions, the educational gratuity and the Military Family Relief Assistance Program; county burial allowances, grave markers and cemetery flags (see that entry); VA home loan certificates of eligibility; recruiting mentors for the Veterans Treatment Court; and the recording and retrieval of discharges. It does not issue VA ID cards or make VA appointments.
Discharges. The office records DD-214s and checks whether one is on file. Under 16 Pa.C.S. 1302 and 1303 a recorded discharge is confidential, released only to the veteran, immediate family, an authorised agent, a court, the director or a government agency until 85 years have passed.
Where the pages are behind.
The address. The FAQ says a veteran without a recorded DD-214 can request one "by visiting our office at the Erie County Courthouse"; the office moved to the Intermodal Center in June 2023, and the burial form gives both addresses.
The tax exemption. The FAQ describes it only as for veterans "100 percent and permanently disabled or classified as individually unemployable". 51 Pa.C.S. 8902 also opens it to service-connected blindness, paraplegia or the loss of two or more limbs at any rating, and every applicant must also show financial need, presumed at $114,637 or less with veterans' benefits not counted. See the Pennsylvania entry.
Thresholds
Thresholds for Erie County Department of Veteran Services
Gate
Rule
Veterans and surviving spouses
Any veteran or survivor can use the office. No rating is needed.
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Disclaimer
VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.