Colorado
Colorado gives a Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exemption that removes 50 percent of the first $200,000 of the primary residence's actual value for veterans rated 100 percent permanent and total, free hunting and fishing licenses for veterans rated 60 percent or higher, in state tuition for resident veterans, and a free annual Colorado State Parks pass for veterans rated permanent and total.
Colorado Department of Veterans AffairsProperty tax exemption
50 percent exemption on the first $200,000 of the actual value of the primary residence (effective exemption is up to $100,000 of value). Transfers to the unremarried surviving spouse.
Source: Colorado Division of Property Taxation, Disabled Veteran ExemptionState income tax
Colorado does not tax VA disability compensation. Military retirement pay is partially exempt through Colorado's pension/annuity subtraction: up to $15,000 (under 55), $20,000 (ages 55-64), or $24,000 (65+); amounts above the cap are taxed.
Source: Colorado Department of RevenueDisabled veteran plates & registration
Colorado issues a free first set of Disabled Veteran plates to veterans rated 50%+ (or with loss of use / blindness or a Purple Heart) and waives the specific ownership tax on one vehicle; DV and Purple Heart plates also get free year-round state-park entry.
Source: Colorado DMV - Disabled Veteran platesPublic employment preference
Colorado adds 5 preference points for wartime/campaign veterans and eligible spouses, and 10 points for veterans receiving VA disability compensation, on state and merit-system local jobs (initial hiring, not promotions).
Source: Colorado Department of Personnel & Administration - Veterans PreferenceIn state tuition
Under 38 USC 3679(c) (the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act Section 702), every public college that accepts Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill students must charge in state tuition to veterans using their GI Bill, regardless of state residency, if the veteran enrolled within 3 years of separation. State specific extensions to this rule are noted below where applicable.
Source: Colorado Department of Veterans Affairs, EducationDependent / survivor education
Colorado waives tuition at state schools for the children of POW/MIA service members, and its Dependent Tuition Assistance Program helps the spouses and children of Colorado National Guard members disabled in the line of duty.
Source: Colorado Department of Higher EducationHunting and fishing license
Free or reduced fee Colorado resident hunting and fishing licenses.
Source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Disabled Veteran LicenseState park entrance
Free Aspen Leaf Pass to all Colorado State Parks for the year, on production of a VA disability award letter.
Source: Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Aspen Leaf PassCamping & recreation
Colorado's Independence Pass is a free annual state-parks pass for resident veterans rated 50%+ service-connected (Purple Heart or loss of vision/limb also qualify); 60%+ veterans can get the discounted Columbine Pass, and DV / Purple Heart plates enter free.
Source: Colorado Parks & Wildlife - Veteran passesState veterans cemetery
Colorado maintains state veterans cemeteries (Veterans Memorial Cemetery of Western Colorado in Grand Junction and Homelake) with burial plots and headstones for eligible veterans and their families.
Source: Colorado Division of Veterans AffairsEmail me the Colorado benefit checklist
A clean, printable checklist of every Colorado benefit on this page - with the eligibility threshold and official source for each - sent straight to your inbox.
State legislatures revise thresholds and dollar amounts every session. The figures above are sourced from the state agency that administers each program, but the latest year is the state's word, not ours. Before you file an application, click the source link in each section and verify the current threshold.
Writing about Colorado veteran benefits? You are welcome to reference this guide. Copy the citation below and link back so your readers can verify each program against the state source, or download the benefits table.