New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1, Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption Amendment (2024)
| New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 5, 2024 | |
| Topic Taxes and Veterans | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1, the Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption Amendment, was on the ballot in New Mexico as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024.[1][2] The ballot measure was approved.
A "yes" vote supported amending the state constitution to extend the disabled veteran property tax exemption to all disabled veterans (or their widows or widowers) in proportion to their federal disability rating. |
A "no" vote opposed amending the state constitution to extend the disabled veteran property tax exemption to all disabled veterans (or their widows or widows) in proportion to their federal disability rating, thereby maintaining that the exemption only applies to veterans with a federal disability rating of 100%. |
Election results
|
New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
701,047 | 82.78% | ||
| No | 145,855 | 17.22% | ||
Overview
What did Constitutional Amendment 1 change about the disabled veteran property tax exemption?
- See also: Text of measure
Constitutional Amendment 1 amended the New Mexico Constitution to extend the disabled veteran property tax exemption to all disabled veterans (or their widows or widowers) in proportion to their federal disability rating. A veteran disability rating is assigned to veterans based on the severity of their service-connected disability. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs assigns the rating as a percentage that represents how much a disability decreases overall health and ability to function. Previously, the tax exemption only applied to veterans with a federal disability rating of 100%.[2]
As of 2024, 34% of New Mexican veterans reported having a disability, according to the Workforce Solutions Department. However, the survey did not differentiate between a service-connected disability and a non-service-connected disability.[3]
How many states provided for a disabled veteran property tax exemption?
As of February 2023, 34 states and Washington, D.C. provided for a property tax exemption to veterans with a disability rating of 100%. Thirteen (13) states provided for a property tax exemption for veterans with a disability rating ranging from at least 10% to at least 80%. Three other states provide veteran property tax exemptions based on other criteria.[4]
How was Constitutional Amendment 1 different from the other veteran property tax amendment on the ballot?
This amendment applied only to disabled veterans or their widows and widowers. The other amendment related to veteran property tax exemptions on the ballot applies to all honorably discharged veterans or their widows and widowers. The amendment was designed to increase the property tax exemption for veterans from $4,000 to $10,000 and adjust it annually for inflation.
How did Constitutional Amendment 1 get on the ballot?
- See also: Path to the ballot
To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a simple majority vote is required in both the New Mexico State Senate and the New Mexico House of Representatives.
This amendment was introduced as House Joint Resolution 5 on January 23, 2023. On March 2, 2023, the state House passed HJR 5 in a vote of 67-0 with three excused. It passed the state Senate by a vote of 39-0 with three excused or not voting on March 17.[1]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title was as follows:[2]
| “ |
Proposing an amendment to Article 8, Section 15 of the Constitution of New Mexico to extend a property tax exemption, currently only allowed for one hundred percent disabled veterans and their widows and widowers, to veterans with less than a one hundred percent disability and their widows and widowers and basing the amount of the exemption on a veteran’s federal disability rating.[5] |
” |
Constitutional changes
- See also: Article VIII, New Mexico Constitution
The measure amended section 15 of Article VIII of the state constitution. The following underlined text was added, and struck-through text was deleted:[2]
Section 15:
Property Tax Exemption for Disabled Veterans
A.The legislature shall exempt from taxation the property, including the community or joint property of husband and wife married individuals, of every veteran of the armed forces of the United States who has been determined pursuant to federal law to have a one hundred percent permanent and total service-connected disability, if the veteran occupies the property as his the veteran's principal place of residence. The amount of the exemption shall be in a percentage equal to the percentage of the veteran's disability rating determined pursuant to federal law.
B.The legislature shall also provide this the same amount of exemption from taxation for property owned by the widow or widower of a veteran who was eligible for the exemption provided in this section, if the widow or widower continues to occupy the property as his the widow's or widower's principal place of residence.
C.The burden of proving eligibility for the exemption exemptions provided in this section is on the person claiming the exemption.[5]
Readability score
- See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2024
Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL) and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.
The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 30, and the FRE is -16. The word count for the ballot title is 60.
Support
Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in support of the ballot measure.
Opposition
Ballotpedia did not locate a campaign in opposition to the ballot measure.
Campaign finance
Ballotpedia has not identified any committees registered in support of or opposition to the amendment. If you are aware of any committees, please send a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.[6]
| Cash Contributions | In-Kind Contributions | Total Contributions | Cash Expenditures | Total Expenditures | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Oppose | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Total | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Background
Section 15, Article VIII of the New Mexico Constitution
In 1998, New Mexico voters approved Amendment 5, which added section 15 of Article VIII to the state constitution. The original property tax exemption applied to property owned and occupied by a veteran with a permanent and total service-connected disability and that had been adapted to the veteran's disability.
In 2002, New Mexico voters amended the section removing the requirement that the property had to be adapted to the veteran's disability. The amendment also added language that to qualify for the exemption a veteran had to have a 100% permanent and total service-connected disability.
Veteran disability rating
A veteran disability rating is assigned to veterans based on the severity of their disability. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs assigns the rating to veterans as a percentage that represents how much a disability decreases overall health and ability to function. A 100% disability rating means the veteran is totally disabled.[7]
States with disabled veteran property tax exemptions
As of February 2023, 34 states and Washington, D.C. provide for a property tax exemption to veterans with a disability rating of 100%. Thirteen (13) states provide for a property tax exemption for veterans with a disability rating ranging from at least 10% to at least 80%. Three other states provide veteran property tax exemptions based on other criteria.[4]
Property tax ballot measures, 2024
Ten ballot measures concerning property taxes were certified to appear on the 2024 ballot in eight states.
Referred amendments on the ballot
- See also: List of New Mexico ballot measures
The following statistics are based on ballot measures between 1995 and 2022 in New Mexico:
- Ballots featured 60 constitutional amendments.
- An average of four measures appeared on even-year statewide ballots.
- Voters approved 87% (52 of 60) and rejected 13% (8 of 60) of the constitutional amendments.
| Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1995-2022 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number | Approved | Percent approved | Defeated | Percent defeated | Even-year average | Even-year median | Even-year minimum | Even-year maximum | |
| 60 | 52 | 87% | 8 | 13% | 4 | 5 | 1 | 9 | |
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the New Mexico Constitution
To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a simple majority vote is required in both the New Mexico State Senate and the New Mexico House of Representatives.
This amendment was introduced as House Joint Resolution 5 on January 23, 2023. On March 2, 2023, the state House passed HJR 5 in a vote of 67-0 with three excused. It passed the state Senate by a vote of 39-0 with three excused or not voting on March 17.[1]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How to cast a vote
- See also: Voting in New Mexico
See below to learn more about current voter registration rules, identification requirements, and poll times in New Mexico.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 New Mexico State Legislature, "HJR 5 Overview," accessed March 3, 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 New Mexico State Legislature, "HJR 5 Text," accessed March 3, 2023
- ↑ New Mexico State Legislature, "Fiscal Impact Report," accessed March 28, 2023
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Veterans United, "Property tax exemptions by state," accessed March 28, 2023
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ New Mexico Campaign Finance Information System, "Search," accessed January 28, 2023
- ↑ U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, "About VA disability ratings," accessed April 11, 2023
- ↑ New Mexico Compilation Commission, "New Mexico Statutes - Chapter 1, Article 12.1," accessed June 24, 2025
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Voter Bill of Rights," accessed June 24, 2025
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 New Mexico Secretary of State, “Voter Registration Information,” accessed June 24, 2025
- ↑ New Mexico Compilation Commission, "New Mexico Statutes - Chapter 1, Article 1-4-5.2", accessed June 24, 2025
- ↑ New Mexico Compilation Commission, "New Mexico Statutes - Chapter 1, Article 1-4-5.8", accessed June 24, 2025
- ↑ New Mexico Compilation Commission, "New Mexico Statutes - Chapter 1, Article 1-4-5.7", accessed June 24, 2025
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Voter Registration Eligibility Requirements and FAQs," accessed June 24, 2025
- ↑ The State of New Mexico, "Voter Registration Form," accessed June 24, 2025
- ↑ Under federal law, the national mail voter registration application (a version of which is in use in all states with voter registration systems) requires applicants to indicate that they are U.S. citizens in order to complete an application to vote in state or federal elections, but does not require voters to provide documentary proof of citizenship. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the application "may require only the minimum amount of information necessary to prevent duplicate voter registrations and permit State officials both to determine the eligibility of the applicant to vote and to administer the voting process."
- ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Voting," accessed June 24, 2025
 |
State of New Mexico Santa Fe (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
