Virginia Beach Reduced Vehicle Tax Rate for Certain Disabled Veterans

Virginia Beach uses the local option in Code of Virginia section 58.1-3506(A)(19). The Commissioner of the Revenue's rates page lists "Qualified Vehicles for Disabled Veterans" at $1.50 per $100 of assessed value, against $4.00 for cars and light trucks. The class is one vehicle owned and regularly used by a veteran who has lost, or lost the use of, one or both legs, an arm, or a hand, or who is blind, or who is permanently and totally disabled from a service-connected disability. The city's form DVPP002 states these as alternatives, which matches the statute. Limb loss or blindness qualifies at any rating. The rate starts on the date the vehicle is acquired or January 1 of the current year, whichever is later. A veteran with the statewide exemption on one vehicle can use this rate on another. Three details on the city's materials do not match the statute. The statute calls for a written statement from the Virginia Department of Veterans Services that the veteran is in the class and that the disability is service-connected; the city page and form ask for certification by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The certification line a veteran signs on DVPP002 attests to a letter showing a "service-connected, permanent, and total disability", even when the veteran qualifies through limb loss or blindness and has no permanent and total rating. And the Commissioner's page cites "Municode Section 35-13" for the rate, which is the City Code section on elderly and disabled vehicle relief. A veteran on the limb loss or blindness route should apply anyway, cite section 58.1-3506(A)(19), and bring the DVS statement.