Gloucester County Disabled Veteran Real Estate Tax Exemption, Ten Acres

Division 2A of the Gloucester County Code, sections 16-78 and 16-79, applies the statewide disabled-veteran real estate exemption to the real property "up to ten (10) acres" of a veteran rated 100% service-connected, permanent, and total who lives there. The statewide baseline is one acre; section 58.1-3219.5(C) requires a locality to match the acreage it gives in its elderly and disabled program, and Gloucester's program covers ten acres. There is no income test, and the veteran refiles only if the principal residence changes. The county code states the surviving spouse rule correctly: the exemption "applies without any restriction on the spouse's moving to a different principal place of residence", and it reaches life estates, trusts, and co-owned homes as the statute does. The Commissioner of the Revenue's page and the county's application do not. Both still say the spouse qualifies while he or she "continues to occupy" the home, and the spouse's sworn certification on the form says "that I continue to occupy the above-listed physical address". A surviving spouse who has moved within Virginia should cite section 16-78(b) of the county code. The form also asks for a photo ID and proof of residency, and for a certified copy of the marriage certificate when the home is jointly owned with a spouse. Gloucester administers the statewide one-vehicle exemption on its own affidavit. Section 16-102.1(c) of the county code repeats section 58.1-3668, including that a vehicle owned by a married person qualifies if either spouse is the 100% veteran. The personal property page says the exemption applies "to a motor vehicle owned solely by the veteran or jointly by the veteran and a spouse", which leaves out a car titled only to the spouse and used for the veteran. Gloucester has no separate rate for the limb loss and blindness class in section 58.1-3506(A)(19); its 2026 rate for vehicles is $3.10 per $100 (the office's FAQ page still says $2.95).