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01/25/2017 07:00 AMI am writing to encourage your readers to vote “No” when the Senior Tax Freeze Program comes to a vote at the town meeting on Thursday, Jan. 26.
Simply put, the taxpayers in Madison can’t afford a new senior tax relief program. The cost of this program is estimated to cost the Madison taxpayers more than $700,000 per year in new taxes.
Layer the cost of the Senior Tax Freeze on top of the $269,102 the State of Connecticut has cut in state aid and Madison taxpayers are going to have to pay an additional $1 million in taxes. These are the first waves to hit, next are bonding of a library expansion, which is due to go to vote in February (approximately $9.1 million); and bonding for school renovations to address the issue of declining enrollment (approximately $40 million).
Please notice that I said a “new” senior tax relief program. The truth is that there are existing programs available to Madison seniors that can reduce their tax burden, but some seniors won’t use those programs because at some point in the future the taxes are due, usually when the home is sold or the estate is passed to relatives. Under the tax freeze proposal, senior citizen property taxes will never go up and they (or their heirs) don’t need to ever pay back the town. At the same time, taxes will continue to go up for the rest of the taxpayers of Madison.
I encourage your readers to vote “No” and bring their friends and neighbors. If fewer than 75 residents show up to vote, the tax freeze passes without a vote.
Alexander McKissick
Madison