More Seniors Seek Tax Relief

More senior citizens in town sought tax relief from the town for the upcoming fiscal year compared to this fiscal year, and the cost of the tax relief program will rise from $3.01 million this fiscal year to $3.3 million in the fiscal year that begins July 1, according to a report from Town Assessor Thomas F. Browne Jr.

Browne's report, scheduled to be reviewed by the Representative Town Meeting on June 28, says his office received 220 new applications for the 2010-11 fiscal year and that the net gain of senior households on the program was 29. That was because, of the 220 new applications, 64 were disallowed because the applicants didn't meet income eligibility requirements, and, on the existing program, 86 households were removed because the applicants either moved, died or sold their property; 13 failed to re-file for the program; and 30 were eligible only for the tax deferral program, which requires a lien on their property, and declined that option.

The town's tax relief program for income-eligible senior citizens and totally disabled residents is up for renewal this year and has three options. The credit option, which grants a different credit based on income levels, is the most popular, with 1,623 households choosing that option for the 2010-11 fiscal year. The tax freeze option, which freezes taxes at their current level for five years, has 14 households in 2010-11, and the tax deferral option, which is like the tax freeze but requires seniors to pay back tax increases when their properties are sold, has 19 households.

Most senior households (485) on the tax credit program have annual incomes ranging from $44,001 to $60,900, according to Browne's report.

The next highest group, 252 households, has annual income from $30,701 to $37,700, followed by 236 households with annual income from $14,501 to $20,800; 204 households with annual income from $37,701 to $44,000; 188 households with annual income from $25,701 to $30,700; 180 households with annual income from $20,801 to $25,700; and 78 households with annual income less than $14,501.

The tax freeze program requires households to have annual incomes less than $49,600, and the tax deferral program requires annual income less than $77,800.

Browne's report says 40 households have property assessments ranging from $600,000 to $997,500 and seven have assessments that are more than $1 million. The average assessment of an applicant on the program is $340,040, according to Browne's report.

Meanwhile, Hank Ference, chairman of the RTM's Senior Tax Relief Committee, which is reviewing potential changes to the program, said only one senior turned out for the committee's forum on Saturday at the Fairfield Senior Center.

Ference said the lone attendee, an 89-year-old Fairfield man who has lived in town 60 years, said consideration should be given to longtime town residents. "He basically asked that we try to consider people, keep in mind people, who have lived in town and paid taxes for years," Ference said. "He said he'd put six generations of kids through school."

Ference said he may go to the Senior Center on his own during lunch to chat with the town's senior citizens and see what they think of the tax relief program.

Ference said the Senior Tax Relief Committee hadn't made any decisions about potential changes to the tax relief program for the 2011-12 fiscal year. He said he thinks the committee would like to increase the tax credit, but doesn't know if the rest of the RTM will go along with that. "We're still tossing around the options," he said.

Tax credits on the current program are:

* For households with annual income up to $14,501 - $4,100 for a married couple, $3,700 for a single;

* For households with annual income from $14,501 to $20,800 - $3,700 for a married couple, $3,400 for a single;

* For households with annual income from $20,801 to $25,700 - $3,100 for a married couple, $2,700 for a single;

* For households with annual income from $25,701 to $30,700 - $2,700 for a married couple, $2,400 for a single;

* For households with annual income from $30,701 to $37,700 - $2,100 for a married couple, $1,800 for a single;

* For households with annual income from $37,701 to $44,000 - $1,400 for a married couple, $1,100 for a single;

* For households with annual income from $44,001 to $60,900 - $800 for a married couple and $800 for a single.

The next meeting of the RTM's Senior Tax Relief Committee is at 7:30 p.m. July 15 in Sullivan-Independence Hall.