City of Petersburg Disabled Veteran Real Estate Tax Exemption

Petersburg's Commissioner of the Revenue, at 144 North Sycamore Street (804-733-2317), takes the statewide disabled-veteran real estate exemption on the city's application, with the original VA letter showing a 100% service-connected, permanent, and total disability. The exemption covers the house and up to one acre; there is no income test, and the veteran reapplies only after a move. The form says proof that the home is the primary residence, "such as resident State tax return, may be requested". The application, last revised in December 2020, lists as a qualification that a surviving spouse "must continue to reside in primary residence", and has the spouse swear to continued occupancy of the same address. Section 58.1-3219.5(B) of the Code of Virginia has let the surviving spouse move to a new principal residence and keep the exemption since 2019. Neither the form nor any city page mentions individual unemployability; a veteran rated permanent and total on that basis should ask, since the Department of Veterans Services treats that rating as qualifying.