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10/03/2017 12:00 AMDemocratic mayoral candidate Salvatore Maltese has announced his proposal to expand the town’s elderly tax relief program, to give the town’s seniors a significant break on their local property taxes.
“My plan will ease the tax burden on the people who need it the most and have worked the hardest for it,” he said.
Maltese said he will work with the Town Council to increase the income eligibility level for single residents aged 65 and older to a maximum of $40,000 from the current $35,200, and for married couples from the current $42,900 to $50,000.
Maltese says his plan will offer a choice of one of three programs: A tax credit that would reduce a senior’s tax bill by $200 to $1,350, on a sliding scale based on the applicant’s income; a tax deferral that delays payment of up to 75 percent of the taxes owed in which the deferred amount is reimbursed to the town (interest free) upon the death of the recipient or sale of the home; or a tax freeze wherein the tax owed on the property will be established as of the Grand List of a previous year and frozen at that amount. The difference between the frozen tax amount and the actual tax amount does not need to be reimbursed to the town.
“Our elderly citizens have built this town, supported the schools, the government and made it a wonderful place to live,” Maltese said. “We should be doing everything we can to make it an equally beautiful place to retire.”
Maltese is a former Board of Finance member. He ran for the Democratic nomination earlier this year and was overwhelmingly approved.