Disabled gay veteran
claims tax break
is unfairly denied
By JEFFREY GOLD, AP from Newsday.com on the Web, January 22, 2005
NEWARK, N.J. Jan.21 -- A gay, disabled veteran of two wars claims he is being denied a property tax break afforded straight veterans because he owns his home with his longtime partner, not a wife.
Louis Paul Hennefeld and his companion contend they are being treated unfairly by their hometown of Montclair because they received half the tax break that a similarly disabled, straight person would be granted.
The case, which appears to be the first of its kind in New Jersey, is an example of marriage-based discrimination, according to one gay rights advocate.
On Friday, state Tax Court Judge Vito L. Bianco questioned lawyers for the couple and for Montclair.
Bianco made no immediate ruling and said he would issue a written opinion "as soon as I can."
"It's a complicated issue," he said.
New Jersey law allows disabled veterans to seek exemptions from local property taxes.
Hennefeld, who is considered 100 percent disabled, jointly owns a house with Blair William O'Dell.
After living together since 1975, they formed a Vermont civil union in 2000, and married on Oct. 22, 2003, in Niagara Falls, Canada.
That nation recognizes gay marriage.
The men sought a full tax exemption last January, but received 50 percent off their annual levy of $17,600.
"I thought it was patently unfair," O'Dell, 60, said in a telephone interview.
When the Essex County Board of Taxation denied their appeal, they sued.
Hennefeld, 72, was recuperating from a recent hospital stay and unable to comment Friday, O'Dell said.
He declined to describe his partner's disability, but said it stemmed from his military service.
Hennefeld served in the Air Force during the Korean and Vietnam wars, and was a staff sergeant when he left the service in the late 1960s, O'Dell said.
Their lawyer, Fernando M. Pinguelo, urged the judge to consider the "plain language" of the tax exemption law, which states that the disabled veteran must own and occupy the house.
"It would be unfair to treat a veteran who served 15 years, in two wars, differently than another veteran in a different domestic partnership," Pinguelo argued.
Since a wedding that took place in Britain would be recognized by Montclair, so should the Canadian marriage of Hennefeld and O'Dell, he contended.
Under questioning from the judge, Montclair Township Attorney Richard Seltzer conceded, "The custom is when a disabled veteran is married under traditional marriage, they get 100 percent exemption."
That disparity is one of many created because same-sex couples are denied the legal protections and benefits of marriage, said David Buckel, an attorney with Lambda Legal, a group that seeks civil rights for gays.
He said the case may ultimately be resolved when a lawsuit seeking to legalize same-sex marriage in New Jersey is decided by the state Supreme Court.
Buckel is the lead lawyer for gay couples in the New Jersey same-sex marriage case.
Although the state's domestic partnership law grants some legal rights to same-sex partners, such as the ability to make medical decisions for each other, it does not address dozens of other situations, such as inheritance and the ability to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
"It spills over to the private sector, because the private sector takes the government's definition of who is married," Buckel said.
Buckel said he knew of no other tax cases involving gay veterans. He said he was involved in a similar matter in New York State where a gay veteran, who married in Canada and who is a retired federal employee, has been unable to obtain health insurance for his spouse.
That health insurance is offered to other federal retirees, Buckel said.
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