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Alaska judge OKs tax breaks for same-sex couples

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posted Friday, September 23, 2011 - Volume 39 Issue 38

Alaska judge OKs tax breaks for same-sex couples
by Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer

Same-sex couples in Alaska are entitled to the same tax exemptions as opposite-sex married couples, a judge ruled September 16.

Superior Court Judge Frank Pfiffner wrote in his decision that the state's marriage requirement violates the equal protection clause in the Alaska state constitution.

Same-sex couples must get the same senior-citizen and disabled-veteran exemptions from state property taxes as married couples, Pfiffner ruled.

The case was filed by the ACLU of Alaska and the national ACLU on behalf of three couples from Anchorage who were denied tax breaks they would have been entitled to if they were married.

Alaska tax law allows seniors over age 65 and disabled veterans to exclude the first $150,000 of assessed value from their property tax liability.

Married couples get the exemption whether the home is owned by the husband, the wife, or both of then jointly.

In 1998, Alaska voters approved an amendment to the state constitution defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman, thus preventing same-sex couples from marrying.

Pfiffner said the marriage amendment only addresses the definition of marriage and does not, as the state contended, mention the associated benefits of marriage.

He agreed with the ACLU that a state statute excluding same-sex couples from 'being entitled to the benefits of marriage' does not alter the constitutional right to equal protection.

Pfiffner's ruling means that while same-sex couples are disqualified from marriage, they are not disqualified from the same rights as opposite-sex married couples.

Pfiffner said the state did not distinguish this case from a 2005 Alaska Supreme Court ruling on discrimination based on sexual orientation. In that case, also brought by the Alaska ACLU, the court said the same-sex domestic partners of state and municipal employees could not be denied benefits given to married spouses.

Alaska's Assistant Attorney General Rachel Witty told CBS News that the state is reviewing the 34-page decision and assessing its options.

All the plaintiff couples were in committed relationships but were treated by the law as roommates rather than families, according to the Alaska ACLU.

ACLU spokesperson Jeffrey Mittman said that one couple, Julie Schmidt and Gayle Schuh, had been together 34 years.

In his ruling Pfiffner noted that Schmidt, 67, and Schuh, 62, co-owned a home in Eagle River since 2006. Schmidt qualified for the exemption but was unable to exempt the full amount because the law deemed her the occupant of only half the house.

'Gayle and I moved, built a home and a life here because we love what Alaska has to offer,' Schmidt said in the ACLU announcement. 'It hurt that the state that we value so much treated us like strangers. It is gratifying to finally have our relationship recognized.'

Two other plaintiffs - Julie Vollick, a permanently disabled military veteran, and her former same-sex domestic partner, Susan Bernard - had a similar experience.

Vollick co-owned a home with Bernard from 2004 until 2010. If Vollick and Bernard had been married, Vollick would have received a $528 greater tax benefit from the exemption, the judge said.

The couple has since separated.

The other plaintiffs were Fred Traber, 62, and Laurence Snyder, 69, a same-sex couple who share a condominium in Anchorage. Snyder qualified for the tax exemption, but the home is in Traber's name and Snyder was unable to claim any part of the tax exemption.

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