KENNEBUNK (WGME) — Some disabled veterans say they just learned about the law exempting them from paying excise taxes on government vehicles, two and a half years after it went into effect.
They claim that the lack of data from the state has cost them money, while others claim that what purports to be significant merit gives them major headaches from the start.
“I stayed there for 24 years,” said Pete Wirth, a Kennebunk resident. “I was an infantryman and I worked in Army intelligence for nine years. “
Wirth retired from the U. S. Army in 2015 with a 100 percent disability.
“Permanently and in general a hundred that I already have enough problems with me, that according to their formula I’m broken,” Wirth said.
In a display of veterans like Wirth, lawmakers expanded a state law in 2021 to exempt veterans with “total service-connected disability” from paying Maine’s motor vehicle excise tax.
It was signed through the Governor on June 16, 2021, and went into effect in October.
Wirth says he never got any communication from the state, but found out about it at a veterinary center.
He discovered the law online and much more.
“I couldn’t find anything on the web,” Wirth said. I went to the Maine Office of Veterans Services. I couldn’t find anything about the excise tax. “
The I-Team also checked and discovered little to no information.
That is, until the end of March, after Wirth reached out to the Maine Office of Veterans Affairs for the second time.
“My goal was to start finding out the fact on the ground,” Wirth said.
Updates were made online and shared on Facebook. The post was shared dozens of times. Some veterans reported that they had just paid their excise tax knowing they were exempt from it.
“Disappointed, but surprised,” Wirth said.
The I-Team raised these considerations with the Executive Director of the Office, David Richmond.
“One of our primary missions is to advise Maine veterans on the benefits that can be provided to them,” Richmond said.
Richmond says it hosts quarterly in-person events and meets with transitioning veterans by mail and phone.
According to the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs,In the U. S. , an estimated 6,942 Maine veterans are 100 percent service-connected.
Even those in the know, like Chris McGhee, an Air Force veteran turned lawyer, say it’s been a struggle.
“I’m going to grant a little bit of forgiveness, given that this law necessarily came about because of COVID,” McGhee said. “This grace ends when I’ve been trying, for years, to get what I’ve earned as an advantage, and essentially I’m denied it and a lot of dollars have been spent. “
State officials say there has been some confusion about the law that allows veterans with a 100 percent total and permanent disability to obtain a special license plate without paying a registration fee.
Richmond says some veterans have said they were turned away because they didn’t need licenses for their cars with disabled veterans’ license plates.
“Unfortunately, most of the veterans who could have benefited probably weren’t able to do it, because there’s no transparent procedure on how to do it in city offices,” Richmond said.
A 2023 memo from the Maine Office of Veterans Services and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to municipalities states that “veterans who are otherwise eligible for the exemption are permitted whether or not they have a disabled veteran’s license plate. “
The memorandum also states that vehicles can be exempted from the tax. McGhee was the driving force.
“It’s incumbent on disabled veterans to force the state to do what they promised to do,” McGhee said.
The secretary of state’s office updated the BMV’s online page showing veterans’ license plates and benefits after the I-Team alerted officials that this excise tax exemption was not included.
A spokesperson said they continue to work on the BMV’s computer systems for cities to track veterans who are eligible for the exemption but have other license plates.
According to the secretary, a law passed in this consultation clarifies that a set of plaques with the words “disabled veteran” is optional when a veteran receives registration fees and an excise tax exemption. It also states that a certificate of registration and special license plates may be issued for more than one vehicle owned by an eligible veteran.
Wirth says Kennebunk officials agreed to reimburse him for the excise tax he paid, even for that calendar year.
He would like the state to step in to give all eligible disabled veterans the years they missed.
Sen. Joe Rafferty (D-York), who represents District 34, which includes Kennebunk, told the I-Team he’s interested in the matter.