Selectmen Forward Tax Relief Proposals To The Council

By Steve Bigham

The Board of Selectmen Monday passed two different elderly tax relief proposals on to the Legislative Council for consideration. The first, proposed by a town employee and a selectman, was endorsed by the board. The second was passed on in deference to members of the ad hoc Elderly Tax Relief Committee.

The ad hoc Elderly Tax Relief Committee has been working on a tax savings plan for senior citizens since last spring. Its proposed program provides savings to all Newtown seniors – no matter what their income level is. Seniors are far less expensive citizens than families with school-age children, said committee chairman Jim MacNaughton, a senior himself.

But Tax Collector Carol Mahoney, Tax Assessor Denise Hames, and Selectman Joe Bojnowski felt a tax break for all senior citizens was too excessive. It would cost the town far too much money and offers tax relief even to those who may not need it, they said. The Elderly Tax Relief Committee’s plan would provide an average of $1,674 worth of tax relief for each of the estimated 2,000 Newtown residents over age 65. That works out to $3.3 million in lost revenue to the town.

The Bojnowski-Mahoney plan provides more relief than what the elderly currently receive, but far less than what the committee has offered. Their plan uses a “needs assessment profile” to determine which seniors would get a tax break. Under the test, those seniors with a combined income of $35,000 or less would receive a $1,000 tax break. Those with a combined income of between $35,000 and $50,000 would receive a tax break of $600. Those with a combined income of over $50,000 would not be eligible for any tax relief.

Mr Bojnowski said 100 percent participation would cost the town an estimated $231,000. Seventy percent participation would run the town about $150,000.

According to Mrs Mahoney, this plan would hopefully be implemented by July – in time for this year’s budget. The selectmen endorsed the Bojnowski-Mahoney plan.

The selectmen agreed to pass on the ad hoc committee’s plan after one of its members, Will Rodgers, expressed concern that his committee’s work may have been pre-empted. He requested that both plans be forwarded to the council for consideration.

“If only [the Mahoney-Bojnowski] report gets passed on, the committee might feel like what we have being doing all this time was a waste of time,” he said.

  Mr MacNaughton has expressed his opposition to a means test plan in the past.

“Why should someone be penalized for making more money than someone else? We’re trying to make this attractive to all seniors so they want to stay in town,” he said.