Present Constitution provides for an exemption from ad valorem taxes (property taxes) for an unmarried surviving spouse of a person who died and who was either (1) on active duty as a member of the military (armed forces of the United States or Louisiana National Guard); (2) a qualified state police officer who died while on duty; or (3) a law enforcement or fire protection officer who qualified for the salary supplement and died while on duty.

Proposed Constitutional Amendment adds this exemption beginning in 2018 for an unmarried surviving spouse of a person who died and was either (1) an emergency medical responder, technician, or paramedic who died while performing the duties of their employment; (2) a volunteer firefighter, verified by the Office of the State Fire Marshal to have died while performing firefighting duties; or (3) a law enforcement or fire protection officer who died on duty and would have qualified for the salary supplement if he had completed the first year of his employment before his death.

Proposed Constitutional Amendment also provides that the exemption is based on the following conditions: (1) the property is eligible for the homestead exemption and was the residence of the person at their time of death; (2) the surviving spouse has not remarried; and (3) the surviving spouse annually provides evidence of eligibility for the exemption to the parish tax assessor.