Will work for tax break
Ever-increasing bills have elders in region clamoring for relief
Clint Seward loves Acton, but he and other local seniors have a new rallying cry: "Don't tax us to the max!"
Acton saw its average single-family tax bills soar to $7,926 last year, and on paper it seems that, with a local median household income of $106,000, many Acton residents can afford it. Property taxes will rise as usual this year, although there is no override of Proposition 2 1/2 scheduled in Acton this spring.
But even that is worrisome, said Seward, a 66-year-old retiree. The average annual household income of a 65-year-old in Acton is just $55,000, and the town's 75-year-old and older residents are living on an even smaller, $28,000 annual income, according to the town's "To Live in Acton" 2005 report.
In Lexington, which passed a $3.9 million override and a $27.5 million debt exclusion last year, driving the average tax bill up by $466, seniors are struggling, said 78-year-old Howard Levingston, a longtime resident.
"If you are in line at the supermarket, and your bill is for more money than you have, do you put back some of the meat and the ice cream, or do you ask everyone else in line for some money? You put something back, of course," Levingston said of his frustration with the constant tax hikes.
Seward and Levingston are among the thousands of retirees in the region unhappy about their property tax bills this season. In some communities, like Chelmsford and Harvard, which are asking voters to approve tax hikes above the state's property tax cap of 2.5 percent per year, the discontent is more palpable than ever.
To cope with the bills, retirees are increasingly taking advantage of tax-relief strategies like work-off programs (see accompanying story at left) and a state deferral program that allows seniors to defer taxes until their homes are sold.
Until a few years ago, few in the suburbs used the deferral program because of its rigid age and income rules and an 8 percent interest rate. But the state now allows municipalities to raise the income limits from $40,000, lower the age of eligibility from 65, and cut the interest rate charged on unpaid sums.
In Sudbury, after town officials voted to allow deferrals at an interest rate of 2.5 percent, the number of senior deferrers jumped from 26 in 2004 to 63 this year, said Dave Levington, chairman of the town's senior tax deferral study committee.
He said he hopes to see Sudbury expand its program and other suburban communities embrace the relaxed rules to provide more options for older residents. Wellesley, where homeowners pay an average of nearly $10,000 in property taxes per year, has seen its program grow from 45 to 52 participants in 2004, when it lowered interest rates to 4.86 percent and raised income limits for applicants to $50,000.
Local seniors say that all abatement programs are welcome, but that municipal leaders should also get out of the "override mentality," said Seward.
"We helped build this town and we'll support this town, but we don't want more taxes unless you can demonstrate a real need," said the 22-year Acton resident, who has started publishing his essays about senior citizen taxation on the Web. "I have older friends who are moving away because they can't afford it, while to younger families, [increases] are less of a big deal."
Levingston said he has always been skeptical of "doom and gloom" assertions by override proponents who say that teaching and library staffs would be decimated or that the school systems, and thereby the property values, in towns would wither.
He did not vote for any of the past several tax hikes in Lexington and can't see voting for one in the near future, he said. "I don't believe the world will end if we don't keep paying more in taxes."
With more than 30 Boston-area communities considering tax-limit override questions this spring, one of the most-watched pieces of legislation is a local option bill that could exempt seniors earning less than $60,000 annually from paying for another Proposition 2 1/2 override as long as they live. It sailed through the House of Representatives, 111 to 34, late last month.
State Representative Ruth Balser, a Newton Democrat and the bill's sponsor, said the House recognized that "we can't give as much local aid as we want or as much as communities need, so we want to give communities the ability to raise their own revenue, but keep seniors in the community."
Each city and town could opt into the exemption on an annual basis, according to the provisions.
But the bill faces opposition in the Senate, said its sponsor there, Senator Cynthia Creem, a Democrat from Newton. Some senators argue that the exemption should be expanded to help low-income residents of all ages, she said.
She said others fear a senior override exemption will transfer too much of the tax burden onto already strapped middle-income families and, by insulating seniors from the impact of a tax hike, muffle a traditional voice of fiscal conservatism needed to keep municipal budgets in balance.
But Creem said older people need more protection if towns insist on passing more overrides.
"I strongly feel we benefit by communities that are intergenerational," she said.
"The seniors should stay in the place they've lived in all these years and know that we want them to stay."
It's not clear how many millions of dollars could shift from seniors to other taxpayers if cities and towns were permitted to grant override exemptions. But approximately 58,000 senior households earning less than $60,000 annually took advantage of the state's circuit-breaker law last year, allowing income-eligible elders to deduct up to $900 on their state income tax return - receiving $39.5 million in tax refunds from the state, according to Balser's office.
The local override exemption - if it becomes law - could potentially reach even more people.
Seward said the exemption could be "an enormous help" to seniors struggling with their bills.
But some seniors disagree with the breaks.
Jack Wilson, 81, who is lobbying on behalf of a $1.9 million override question in Wayland this spring, said older people have a civic duty to pay more taxes to help keep public schools strong.
"We have a responsibility to support education. This is our obligation as a community."
Erica Noonan can be reached at enoonan@globe.com. 