Combat Duty May Bring County Stipend

12/21/2007

Knight Ridder/Tribune | December 21, 2007


SEBRING, Fla. -- By mid-January, Highlands County is likely to become the third county in the state to give county residents serving in the military in combat zones a monthly stipend.

The proposed stipend being considered is $75 per month of combat duty.

The idea has been pending before the Highlands County commissioners since early November, but is likely to move quickly now that Joseph Dionne, the county's veterans services officer, is ready to make a recommendation.

Dionne said Dec. 20 he plans to send to county Attorney Ross Macbeth a proposal for the county to award the $75-per-month stipend to all full-time Highlands County residents currently serving in the military and deployed in what the federal government classifies as combat zones.

Those zones of combat include Iraq and Afghanistan.

Financial support for county residents serving overseas in at-risk military roles is not a new idea in Florida, but Highlands County officials are taking a different stance than most counties.

Dionne reported in November that 13 Florida counties give such financial aid to residents, ranging ranging from $600 to $1,500 per year.

However, 11 of those 13 counties restrict such aid to a reduction in property taxes, making it available only to soldiers away at war who own a home.

When county commissioners first discussed this issue six weeks ago, several people pointed out that most soldiers in combat in most wars are young people who do not yet own a home. As a result, if the aid were limited to homeowners, only a small percentage of residents serving in war zones would get the aid.

"Who serves (in the military) right now? Mostly it's the young people, 21, 22, 23 years old," Commissioner Don Bates said during the November discussion. Any financial aid by the county for current service in a war should apply to every county resident, whether they own or rent or are still living at their parents' home, he said.

"They're all taking the same risks when they're out there," Bates said. "Their exposure to harm really doesn't depend on whether or not they own property."

Two of the 13 counties providing aid to their residents in war zones don't restrict the help to a discount on property taxes. Those two counties -- Wakulla and Palm Beach -- give a stipend to every resident serving in a war zone, regardless of whether they own property or not.

Dionne, a retired Army Sgt. Major and a Vietnam veteran, said Thursday he is in the process of recommending that commissioners provide the $75 per month stipend to all Highlands County residents in active duty in war zones, not a property tax break.

"It has not happened yet," he said about that recommendation, "but it is in the process, it is coming."

A vote by commissioners is likely at their Jan. 16 or Jan. 23 meeting.

Commissioner Guy Maxcy said he's leaning heavily in favor of the stipend but will consult with people before he casts his vote.

"I have to say I would probably be in favor of it," Maxcy said. "I have to lean heavily on what Sgt. Major Dionne says. If he thinks it's a worthwhile program, then we should really consider it.

"I'll also be leaning on the (Highlands County) Veterans Council as well, as to making my decision and my vote."

Asked for his opinion on the county giving a $900 per year combat stipend, county Administrator Carl Cool said he sees no hurdle to approval.

"It would seem almost unpatriotic to vote no on that," he said.

Highlands County has an estimated 20,000 military veterans in the summer and between 30,000 to 35,000 in the winter.

At the same time, Highlands County has had few young people joining the military during times of war over the past several decades.

The last time that Avon Park Battery B, 3-116 Field Artillery National Guard was deployed overseas, about 160 members were called up to active duty. Of those, about 30 were Highlands County residents.