1424                             Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 490

CHAPTER 490
(House Bill 115)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact with amendments, Section 9, subsec-
tions (35) (a) and (35) (c) of Article 81 of the Annotated Code of
Maryland (1969 Replacement Volume), title "Revenue and Taxes"
subtitle "What Shall Be Taxed and Where," to provide that certain
exemptions from assessment shall apply to the surviving spouse of
certain disabled veterans and blind persons in certain cases.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 9, subsections (35) (a) and (35) (c) of Article 81 of the
Annotated Code of Maryland (1969 Replacement Volume), title
"Revenue and Taxes" subtitle "What Shall Be Taxed and Where,"
be and they are hereby repealed and re-enacted with amendments to
read as follows:

9.

(35) (a) The dwelling house and the lot or curtilage whereon the
same is erected, of any citizen and resident of this State or his sur-
viving spouse if he or she remains unmarried and remains the owner
and resident of the property in question, now, or hereafter honorably
discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active
service in any branch of the armed forces, who has been or shall be
declared by the United States Veterans' Administration or its suc-
cessors to have a service-connected disability from total blindness, or
other cause which has been evaluated as 100 percent disabling, and
such disability has been determined by the Veterans' Administration
or its successor to be permanent in character. THE SURVIVING
SPOUSE OF A QUALIFIED DISABLED VETERAN WHOSE
PROPERTY RECEIVED THE EXEMPTION PRIOR TO JULY
1, 1969 SHALL BE ENTITLED TO RECEIVE THE EXEMPTION
FROM ASSESSMENT FOR THE TAXABLE YEARS BEGIN-
NING JULY 1, 1972 PROVIDED THAT SAID SURVIVING
SPOUSE HAS REMAINED UNMARRIED AND IS THE OWNER
AND RESIDENT OF THE PROPERTY THAT ORIGINALLY
RECEIVED THE EXEMPTION FROM ASSESSMENT. To meet
the requirements of permanency it must be affirmatively shown that
the 100 percent disability is reasonably certain to continue through-
out the life of the veteran, provided that no such exemption shall be
granted for any disability which was caused or incurred through the
misconduct of the veteran concerned. It shall be incumbent upon the
veteran to furnish a suitable certification of the Veterans' Adminis-
tration or its successor showing the character of the disability which
is 100 percent disabling. The details of the certification shall not be
open to public inspection, except by the veteran, or by officers of the
State and/or any city or county affected thereby. In the event of the
veteran's death, the spouse of said veteran shall retain the exemption
for such time as he or she, as the case may be, remains unmarried
and remains the owner and resident of the property in question. The
dwelling house and the lot or curtilage whereon the same is erected of
any blind person shall also be exempt from taxation, up to an assessed
valuation of $6,000, in any instance; and for the purpose of this
subsection a person shall be considered blind if he has permanent
impairment of both eyes of the following status: central visual