More than 92% of Isle of Wight and Surry county residents, and Virginians statewide, voted in favor of a constitutional amendment that will expand the tax exemption currently available to surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action to the surviving spouses of soldiers who die in the line of duty, but not necessarily in combat.

Voters could answer “yes” or “no” to the question, “Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended so that the tax exemption that is currently available to the surviving spouses of soldiers killed in action is also available to the surviving spouses of soldiers who died in the line of duty?”

Isle of Wight saw 21,623 of its voters, or 92.8%, vote yes.

In Surry, 3,933 voters, also accounting for 92.8% of the county’s total, voted yes.

Statewide, 3.8 million, or 93%, of Virginians voted yes.

“Now that the voters have approved the amendment, the 2025 General Assembly will introduce legislation in January which will enact the new amendment,” Isle of Wight County Commissioner of the Revenue Gerald Gwaltney said. “As in the past, the legislation will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025.”

Gwaltney said it’s difficult to determine at this time what impact the expanded tax breaks will have on the county’s expected revenue.

In 2011, the General Assembly passed legislation allowing 100% tax relief on residences located on up to an acre of land and one vehicle to disabled veterans, and their surviving spouses if deceased. According to Gwaltney, there are 677 disabled veterans in Isle of Wight who currently qualify under the 2011 law, which has a $2.3 million impact on the county’s annual tax revenue.

The average relief is $3,400 per person, he said.

“The exemption also extends to the town real estate tax for those who live within the towns of Smithfield and Windsor,” Gwaltney said of the 2011 law. “When the disabled veteran passes away, the exemption will continue for the surviving spouse if the spouse does not remarry.”

Gwaltney, in August, told county supervisors that Isle of Wight has the second-highest percentage of tax-exempt veterans and surviving spouses in the state.