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Highlands Today

County To Consider Grants For

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By Jim  Konkoly | Highlands Today

Published: November 14, 2007

SEBRING — One big question was raised Tuesday as Highlands County commissioners began discussions on a proposal to provide financial aid to the county's military personnel serving in combat zones in the war on terrorism.

That question: Should this proposed county grant — up to a maximum $900 per year — be awarded only to homesteaded home owners, or to all service personnel from the county in harm's way overseas?

Two of the five commissioners, Don Bates and Edgar Stokes, supported making the grant available to all men and women from the county serving in combat zones, whether they own or rent.

"Their exposure to harm really doesn't depend on whether or not they own property," Bates said.

He added, "Who serves right now? Mostly it's the young people, 21- 22-, 23-years old, who are the ones out on the front line." Few people at that age own a home, he said. If the intent is to support troops fighting the war on terrorism, he said, the aid should not depend on a person's status as a homeowner or renter.

"They're both taking the same chances when they're out there," Bates said.

Stokes agreed with that stand.

"The point is to give it (grant) to the Highlands County people who are serving or will serve in the combat zones, whether they own or rent," he said. Stokes said renters also pay property taxes, indirectly, as landlords pass the tax on to them as part of their rent.

Commissioners tentatively planned a public hearing for Nov. 27 on the combat duty county grant.

Guy Maxcy, chairman of the commissioners, called the idea of backing up county residents serving in combat zones with a grant "a mighty fine program." The details, though, have to be worked out, he said.

Thirteen of Florida's 67 counties now provide financial aid to residents in combat duty, ranging from $600 to $1,500 per year.

Eleven of those counties restrict the aid to only homeowners as a reduction in their property taxes. Two counties – Wakulla and Palm Beach – provide a similar grant to residents whether they own or rent.

Like the Palm Beach and Wakulla programs, the Highlands County aid is proposed as a grant that could be spent for any purpose.

As it stands now, the Highlands County proposal would provide a $75 per month grant for every month served in a combat zone when a county resident in the military returns home. The full $900 per year grant would go to soldiers wounded in combat and to the surviving spouse of a soldier killed in combat.

Joe Dionne, county veteran services officer, wrote the draft proposal to raise the idea and he expected fine-tuning the details as it was discussed by the commissioners.

Dionne acknowledged that many of the soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are young men and women who don't own property.

Asked who the combat duty grant program is intended to help, he answered: "The idea is the exposure to combat where it is immediate and instantaneous that your life can change in a heartbeat."

While Highlands County has an estimated 20,000 veterans, relatively few county residents are in the military or in Reserve or National Guard units.

The last time that the Avon Park Battery B, 3-116 Field Artillery National Guard was deployed overseas, about 160 members were called up, of whom about 30 were Highlands County residents, Dionne said.

"Historically, there have not been that many active duty individuals (from Highlands County) who have went off" to combat zone military duty, he said.

Commissioner Barbara Stewart asked Dionne to come back to the Nov. 27 public hearing with as much information as possible on how many people would be eligible for a combat duty grant and a breakdown on how many own a home and rent.

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