For service between September 2, 1945 and December 26, 1991 that does not meet a wartime test. The locality picks 10% or 15% of assessed value, capped at $8,000 or $12,000, plus half the disability rating up to $40,000. The base part runs ten years unless the locality made it permanent.
Also called: property tax, 458-b, Cold War, RP-458-b, ten years, assessor, peacetime service.
Real Property Tax Law section 458-b exists for the veteran who served between September 2, 1945 and December 26, 1991 but whose service does not fall inside one of the designated wartime periods that section 458-a requires. Without it, a veteran who served in, say, 1985 would get nothing.
A Cold War veteran under this section served on active duty in that window and received an honorable discharge, a discharge for a qualifying condition, or, for an LGBT veteran separated on those grounds, a discharge other than dishonorable.
The base exemption is set by the locality at either 10% of assessed value, capped at $8,000, or 15%, capped at $12,000. Both ceilings scale by the latest state equalization rate where assessments run below market value. The locality chooses which option to adopt, and it has to adopt the exemption at all before any of it exists.
The disability part works exactly as it does under section 458-a: assessed value multiplied by one half of the service-connected disability rating, capped at $40,000 or that figure times the equalization rate.
The ten-year rule is the real difference between this exemption and the alternative one. The base exemption runs for ten years and then stops. A municipality may adopt a local law making it run indefinitely for an owner who stays eligible, and many have, but that is a local choice rather than the statutory default. The disability portion is not subject to the ten-year limit.
A veteran cannot hold the Cold War exemption and the alternative veterans exemption on the same property. Where the service qualifies for both, the alternative exemption is normally worth more because its base is 15% with a combat add-on available. This section is the fallback, not the first choice.
File form RP-458-b with the assessor by the taxable status date. As with section 458-a, special district charges are not covered, and school taxes are reached only where the district adopted the exemption.
Thresholds
Thresholds for New York Cold War Veterans Property Tax Exemption
Gate
Rule
A rating adds an exemption equal to half its percentage
No rating is required. A service-connected rating adds assessed value multiplied by one half of the rating, capped at $40,000, and that portion is not subject to the ten-year limit that applies to the base exemption.
Active duty between September 2, 1945 and December 26, 1991
The gates are service in that window, a qualifying discharge, a primary residence, and a locality that has adopted the exemption. No rating is required and the rating filter never hides this benefit.
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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.