The deadline to file for a senior tax exemption has been extended to Dec. 1.

Barrington Town Manager Jim Cunha made the administrative change last week, shifting the filing deadline from Oct. 31 to Dec. 1. Mr. Cunha added that residents applying for the senior tax exemption will still need to file their income information.

"We're not sure where the exemption is going, but if you don't have your papers in by Dec. 1, you're not eligible," he said.

The town council decided earlier this year to alter the senior tax exemption in an effort to provide more financial assistance to residents in need. The council formed an ad hoc tax exemption committee which investigated a number of options and settled on building an income-based senior tax exemption.

In the past, the town has offered a circuit breaker exemption for residents earning less than $28,000 each year. For all residents 65 and older who earned more than $28,000 each year, there was a flat rate senior exemption; last year the senior exemption offered older residents a $368 reduction on their property tax bill, regardless of how much money they earned.

"For someone earning $200 million from investments or for someone making $28,001, they both received the $368 (exemption)," Mr. Cunha said.

The new senior tax exemption will be income-based, and in order to establish how much money residents can save on their tax bills, officials are calling for verifiable income information. The tax assessor's office sent out letters to property owners 65 and older, requesting copies of their tax returns or other paperwork detailing how much money they earn each year.

That request was not well-received by some folks, but that does not change how Barrington Town Council President Michael Carroll feels about the issue. 

Mr. Carroll said a number of elderly residents asked town officials for tax relief during the budget process last spring, following the passage of a $68.4 million school bond item. 

Mr. Carroll said council members believed people when they approached the microphone during public meetings and said the tax increase was going to force them to sell their homes and move out of town. 

"We know there are people who need help," said Mr. Carroll, "and we want to help them."

The tax assessor's office has already received hundreds of senior tax exemption applications, including dozens from people earning less than $20,000 a year.

The council intends on keeping the change to the senior tax exemption "revenue neutral." The town afforded elderly residents about $550,000 in tax exemptions last year, and the council would like to stay close to that figure this year. 

The town has experienced a consistent increase in the amount of money dedicated to the elderly exemption. In 2007, the town extended $437,198 in senior exemptions. That figure grew to $477,559 in 2012, and $543,980 in 2015, and most recently to $547,527. 

During an Oct. 16 ad hoc tax exemption committee meeting, people had discussed the idea of conducting a simple survey of elderly residents to see how much they earn each year. The town would, in theory, send out a postcard which residents could fill in and then send back. They would not have to supply verifying information about their income, such as a tax return, unless they wanted to later apply for the exemption. The town could then use the cards to establish a tiered structure for the tax exemptions.

Mr. Cunha said town officials decided against that plan.

"We couldn't accept the data off the cards as a valid survey," he said.

Planning to apply?

Barrington Town Council President Michael Carroll offered residents some simple advice if they're planning to apply for the senior tax exemption. He said they need to fill out the application from the town and bring it and the top page of their tax return to the tax assessor's office. Mr. Carroll said residents who are concerned about the security of their personal information should redact those details.

"That's all we need," Mr. Carroll said. "They'll notarize (the applications) right there (in the assessor's office)."

How many people applied

Following is a list of how many people who applied for the circuit breaker and elderly tax exemptions in the past five years:

Year — Elderly — Circuit breaker

2017 — 1,113 — 67

2016 — 1,081 — 73

2015 — 1,080 — 81

2014 — 1,013 — 83

2013 — 1,062 — 95

Committee meeting is Oct. 30

The Barrington Ad Hoc Tax Exemption Committee will be meeting in the town hall council chambers on Monday, Oct. 30. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. and is open to the public.