It's the little things

I had to re-register my car today. The state provides a military exemption for state taxes on car registration for military members who are not Hawai'i residents. So I went down to Rear Detachment and waited an hour for the RearD people to get out of a meeting so that I could get the form I needed to exempt us from the state taxes.

I took my registration, military ID, deployment orders, power of attorney, and military exemption form down to the Satellite City Hall today to get new tags for my car. I waited in line, double-checking that I had everything I needed. I get to the counter and the woman asks me what my rank is.

I have no rank.

I explain that my husband is deployed, that I have copies of his deployment orders, power of attorney, blood type, and anything else that the state might possibly need in order to consider me worthy of the military exemption for registration taxes. She again asks me what my rank is.

I. HAVE. NO. RANK.

Again, I explain that my husband is the servicemember and he is currently in Iraq but that I have deployment orders/power of attorney/marriage certificate/military ID/1st grade report card and all of that should take care of the fact that my husband is not currently on the island.

She looks at me and blinks. She then proceeds to ask me, "So you're not in the military?"

Um, no. I am a military spouse. Hence the lovely tan colored ID card, copies of deployment orders/power of attorney/marriage certificate/etc.

She then tells me that because my husband's name is not on the registration and title of the car, we are not eligible for the military exemption on state taxes when it comes to registering this car. "That-will-be-one-hundred-and-seventy-five-dollars-plus-ten-dollars-for-a-late-fee-
thankyouverymuchhaveaniceday-pleasegopaythechashier."

Seems it doesn't matter that I'm married to a man in the military if his name isn't on the title. Grr. I could get ahold of the bank, have them add MacGyver's name to the title (I'm sure THAT would be a quick and easy process, given the fact that he's in a foreign country at the moment. /sarcasm). But that would mean driving around for weeks on end (because we all know that something that sounds so simple will take at least 6-8 weeks) waiting to get paperwork taken care of and signatures obtained. And driving around on expired tags is, well, illegal. So I did not choose that option. Call me silly.

Grr. It's the little things. Don't get me wrong. I understand that a rule is a rule and I'm not mad at the woman at City Hall for not bending the rule for me. It's basic algebra, really.

If A=B and B=C then A=C.

A: Military members and vehicles in their name are eligible for a military exemption on registration tax.

B: I am married to said military member and, were he here, I could have his name added to the title and registration of my car.

C: Marriage to said military member should extend benefits to me and the rest of his family.

On a related note, I was talking with a friend of mine about the attitude of entitlement. I try my best to avoid seeing the world or the Army as though it owes me something. Don't get me wrong - if I am due something, if I have worked for and earned something then I will demand it. It is rightfully mine. But I do not expect things to be given to me just because I exist or because of the fact that I am married to a man in the military.

A few months ago I attended a town hall meeting and listened to a woman complain that the Army wasn't doing enough to compensate her for the fact that her husband was being extended. She wanted the Army to provide her and her family with free plane tickets back to the mainland so that she could go visit family while her husband was deployed. I just shook my head. If you read our deployment orders, they read that the deployment will last "365 days or until the mission is complete."

The Army owes us nothing beyond that for which Congress and the DoD have already provided.

What would be NICE is this: in the event of a deployment and upon possession of said deployment orders, dependents of the deployed servicemember should be eligible to remain at a Category III status regardless of whether the servicemember is present. In other words, the deployment orders should act as a literal stand-in for the servicemember. It would be a wonderful gesture and an incredible help for families who do not live on the mainland during a deployment (or for those who desire a Hawaiian getaway during a deployment!). Flying my family to the mainland is expensive and therefore only happened once. It would have been great to have been able to fly (on a Space Available basis) back to the mainland to see family.

Another help would be to allow families to be able to fly SpaceA to any SpaceA destination on the mainland rather than just to the first mainland destination they come to. For someone whose family resides on the west coast, this is not a problem. The majority of flights from here go to either Travis AFB, McChord AFB, or North Island. Sucks to be someone whose family lives on the eastern seaboard.

I'm not looking to milk the system or the Army for more than I deserve. I just see ways that the lives of military families could be made easier by utilizing the system in different ways. The adjustments to the Category status of families of deployed soldiers would not cost anyone money.

But it sure would make life easier.

Comments

[Jen]

I hate those Space A rules. There's NO WAY we could Space-A to the black hole of airspace called the Mid-West and be manifested all the way through. And airline tickets to previously stated Black Hole of the Midwest are quite expensive. Add a family of 5 (well, 6 when Dad is home) and you're well over 4K.

It would just make things EASIER. And it might make dealing with extended deployments, and deployments, period a little easier and keep family morale a bit higher if a trip home or a vacation didn't break the bank.

[Butterfly Wife]

I ran into a similar problem when I tried to invoke the Servicemembers Relief Act (I am probably calling it the wrong thing) to get our credit card APRs lowered to 6%. Just an FYI, if you are getting ready for deployment and your credit card is in just your name, see if you can get your husband's name added BEFORE deployment. Then you may be able to qualify for the reduction to 6%. Otherwise you might be stuck at 18% or higher.

[Tamber]

AMEN on Space A. I'm in Germany, and a deployed spouse only gets us bumped up to Category IV. Which does nothing in the nightmare of August when every non-deployed Category III and their multitude of children are trying to get back to Europe for the start of school.
(We can't get to the black hole of the Midwest either. Unless you're from the East Coast, you're outta luck).

[Marine Wife]

Unfortunately, this is why vehicles are usually registered in hubs name. Which made selling one during a deployment that much more interesting... Argh!

[Andi]

Had a similar experience at Ft. Benning years ago. I think it was after we purchased a car. Only this time, both of our names were on the title. Ironically, that was the problem. Since my name was on the title along with my husbands (and I wasn't a legal resident of Georgia), they said we were not eligible for the exemption. In order to solve the problem, I would have to have my name removed from the title in order to qualify, or become a legal Georgia resident.

We went round and round and finally, I sat down and reviewed the rules. I couldn't find a statute that stated that the servicemember would not be eligible for the exemption if he shared the title with someone else, only that his name must appear on the title.

I went to one of the supervisors and explained that unless I overlooked something, this simply was not right. He agreed and we were fine, but it took a couple of hours to get it all resolved.

These things are worse than root canals....

[Tracie (Navy wife)]

Yes, been there and done that. When moving to Virginia, we decided to have my car registered in just his name although it was in both names in previous duty station. It saved us a lot of drama b/c Virginia considers your vehicles property and taxes them accordingly, and without the military exemption, the state practically rapes you in tax fees. It is a double-edged sword though, b/c on one hand, you need everything in his name for exemptions and such, but then when you want to do something or handle something, it's always a big "to-do", even with a power of attorney.

[Ramie]

Oh my gosh......have SOOOO been there done that.....CA had the same "rule". I ended up saying that I was a student and could therefore keep my CO license plates (we were only there 7 months, and it was going to cost over $700 for taxes and plates). I had to register for 2 classes, but since I was planning to do that anyways, it was no issue...just a hassle.

And I totally agree with you on the Space A thing. I've spent 5.5 of the last 8.5 years in Europe, and my DH deployed alot, so I'd try to come to the states with the kids. We could get to the east coast easily, but then the trek to CO was always a costly one!

Ramie

[Heather S.]

I've been amazed at the number of times that things have taken weeks longer than necessary even with power of attorney! I've also been amazed at how unsympathetic people can be. I mean, I too understand that someone can't "bend" rules for me...I don't expect that. But, why not be nice or at least polite about it? I've run across 2 polite people in 5 years of dealing with this stuff. Ridiculous. And I agree that deployment orders and a POA should act as stand-in for the service member. Isn't that the point of POA?

[Navy Wife Sarah]

Is it true that you can be exempt from those taxes in VA as well? My husband is in the Navy and we are moving to VA in a couple weeks. We just got married this month, so I am kinda new to all of this, but I heard that there is only military exemption in certain states. Is that not right?

[phyllis]

The DMV in california is not good. My DH medical for his commercial licence expires while he is gome. All DMV will say is fill out the form. No extensions or anything.

[MedWife]

We live in Missouri, and I found out the hard way that being tax exempt (personal property) due to military status ONLY pertains to certain counties.

Go figure, we had just moved out of a county that DID honor it.

[Sarah]

MedWife -- Heck, you don't even have to LIVE in Missouri! We moved away but our cars are still registered there, so we owe the personal property taxes even though we never once drove that car on a Missouri road last year!