To the editor:

At the town council meeting on March 5, a public hearing was held on a proposed ordinance relating to senior property tax exemptions. After deliberation, the council voted 4-1 that exemption amounts should be granted incrementally to seniors with a household income under $69,200. The council also agreed that a $200 tax credit be extended to all Barrington seniors, regardless of income. By its vote, the council approved $836,000 for senior tax relief, up from $547,000 presently. 

In so voting, the council adopted the recommendations of the ad hoc committee established in May 2017 to “evaluate ways in which in the town can provide tax relief to those in financial need and other factors deemed appropriate and to make recommendations to the town council on ways to do so.” The appointed seven-member committee met eleven times beginning in June 2017, held two public hearings, and prepared a forty-page report with recommendations. Councilman Steven Boyajian was the committee chair, and he performed this role more than admirably. I was the vice chair.    

It is ironic that I was the dissenting council member on the senior tax exemption vote. I have long believed that Barrington’s property tax exemptions for low-income seniors should be more equitably structured, and I participated actively on the ad hoc committee.     

I agreed with the committee’s recommendation that would provide for a $200 tax credit to eligible seniors, regardless of income. However, as indicated in the committee’s report at pp. 24-26, I proposed what I believed would be a less costly alternative to the committee’s recommendation for low-income tax relief. This alternative would provide additional tax relief for low income seniors earning less than $60,585, as opposed to the $69,200 threshold approved by the town council.

I recommended this alternative primarily because the council lacks sufficient information to allow its members to comprehend fully how the planned shift to an income-based tax exemption will affect town finances. Since the deadline for the next annual application for the senior tax exemption is not until Oct. 1, 2018, the committee will not have sufficient data to make future projections at least, until at least Nov. 2018. In addition, as the committee’s report indicates, other relevant data are outstanding that may substantially impact these calculations. I proposed that tax relief for low-income seniors not be increased as much as the council approved, until we have a better idea of how many would be impacted by the new ordinance. 

One lesson I have learned is that once a tax reduction is enacted, it is very difficult to change. I believe we should proceed cautiously until we have a better idea how many low income seniors will apply and what are their incomes. As a result, I reluctantly dissented. I hope that my caution is unwarranted.   

Sincerely, 

Peter Dennehy

Barrington