DENVER – Supporters of a bill offering tax benefits for veterans who retire before the age of 55 are hoping the third time is the charm when it comes to getting their bill passed. They say Colorado’s tax rates are keeping many retired vets from moving to Colorado after they leave military service.
“We want to keep those veterans in Colorado,” Dick Young, the state legislative chair for the United Veterans Committee of Colorado, told Anne Trujillo on this week’s Politics Unplugged. “If they come they buy houses, they buy cars, they spend money. We want them to stay in Colorado and for veterans this is an important issue.”
Ignacio Garza is a Special Forces veteran who says there are great benefits to having more veterans living in the state. He says veterans often bring their families with them, and the GI bill means they’ve got money to spend on tuition in Colorado schools. That all amounts to a lot of income, property and sales taxes being generated for the state.
“Veterans don’t have an issue paying their taxes,” Garza said. “We want to contribute to this state and help make Colorado competitive for those retirees. There are 2.2 million each year that retire.”
Politics Unplugged airs Sundays at 4:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Denver7.