Seniors confront governor as he offers tax-break plan

Governor Mitt Romney used a Mattapan retiree's front porch yesterday as a stage to unveil a series of proposed tax breaks for Massachusetts senior citizens and to smooth over recent comments on the subject by Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey.

Healey's remarks drew an immediate angry response last week from senior citizen advocates because she suggested that property tax breaks for senior citizens would keep them ''overhoused and isolated" by encouraging them to remain in their spacious suburban homes.

A small group of senior citizens from the Mattapan neighborhood showed up to voice their concerns at yesterday's event, creating a rare unscripted moment for Romney.

One local woman voiced her outrage, while others insisted that Romney and Healey speak with them after the event.

''Reading in the paper about what the lieutenant governor said last week, it was quite upsetting about how seniors should just move out because they only use one room out of your whole house," Leola Coleman, 74, of Mattapan said to Healey.

''But I think we should have the privilege to do that if we want to," Coleman said. ''And you know what I mean, like we have to leave and give up our homes because of the baby boomers."

Healey said her comments were misinterpreted, contending that they were aimed at only one aspect of the Romney administration's housing policy, which also seeks to increase multifamily housing in areas clustered near mass transit facilities and city centers.

''I'm so glad to have the opportunity to set the record straight here today, and I don't blame you for being concerned, because if I had said that, it would be upsetting," Healey told the crowd. ''But what we're saying today is the whole picture."

The Romney proposal announced yesterday, if approved by the Legislature, would greatly expand the pool of senior citizen homeowners who qualify for a property-tax deferral program and would reduce the interest rate on such deferments from 8 percent to 3 percent.

In addition, the plan would give a $10,000 exemption to those who house and care for elderly relatives and a $2,000 deduction for seniors who buy doctor-prescribed medical equipment that allows them to continue living in their own homes.

The legislative package -- Creating Housing Options with Independence and Caring for our Elders, or CHOICE -- seeks to make it easier for senior citizens to stay in their own homes, Romney said.

His policy goal appeared to be vastly different from the one expressed earlier this month by Healey, who told a wire service reporter that state tax policy should not make it easier for seniors to stay in their rambling suburban homes while fledgling families look for affordable housing.

''My opinion is that to extend tax breaks to seniors in order to keep them overhoused and isolated in the suburbs is not necessarily the right answer," Healey told a State House News Service reporter in an interview published last week. ''It's an answer, but the best answer would be to bring them into our city and town centers, into more appropriate housing, and free up those properties to get back on the tax rolls of the community."

Yesterday's event was the second time this year that Romney found himself patching up a public relations problem caused by Healey. In February, Healey was forced to apologize after her state trooper escort used a blue light to speed her through Route 128 traffic to a speaking engagement.

Romney offered Healey the first chance to speak yesterday, and she immediately sought to display her understanding of the plight of retirees like Ruth Colson, whose front porch served as the stage for yesterday's event.

''People like Ruth Colson have spent their lifetime investing in their communities, and now it's time for the community to invest in people like Ruth," Healey said.

But the small crowd clustered on the sidewalk in front of the house on Wellington Hill Street apparently were not convinced.

Asked whether the policy he unveiled yesterday contradicted Healey's stated policy goals, Romney said: ''I'll let the lieutenant governor talk about any of her comments, but our policy has been pretty clear from the very beginning. . . . In my speech [on] the State of the State, I indicated that we want to find a way to provide property tax relief to seniors. We want seniors to have options and choice, and that's what this program is all about."

The residents still had questions and doubts, however, so Romney and Healey waded into the crowd to discuss the details of their proposal.

Coleman, interviewed afterward, said she and her neighbors were furious with Healey and felt obliged to confront her.

''I'm still upset about it," Coleman said. ''When I found out about this meeting, I couldn't wait."

Speaking with reporters after the event, Healey said she made the appearance yesterday to ''set the record straight."

''I never suggested that any seniors should have to leave their home; that is never what I intended," she said. ''What I intended was to speak about the need for more affordable housing options for seniors and that we need to build more affordable housing."

But she acknowledged that the comments had caused concern. ''Perception is sometimes reality, but what you saw today was the whole spectrum of our housing policy," Healey said.

Under current laws, senior citizens wishing to defer property taxes until after they move or die can do so only if they meet the income threshold of $20,000 and have lived in their home for at least five years and in their community for at least 10 years.

Under the Romney proposal, the income threshold would be increased to $60,000, and seniors would be required to have lived in their community for only five years to qualify.

The legislation would take the burden of shouldering the cost of deferring such taxes off city and town governments and place it with the state, which would provide loans to municipalities until the properties are sold or transferred to heirs.