To help homeowners age 60 and up and veterans of all ages lower their property tax bills, the City Council is considering an ordinance to create senior and veteran property tax work-off programs.
If the City Council adopts state legislation, the administration could then establish programs to allow seniors and veterans to volunteer their services to the city in exchange for lower property taxes.
To do this, the City Council must first accept two provisions of state law. The council is scheduled to take this up at its next meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 13.
Communities in the region that already offer senior tax work-off programs include, but are not limited to, Salem, Beverly, Danvers, Boxford, Ipswich, Hamilton, Wenham, Marblehead and Middleton, according to various municipal websites. Some towns such as Middleton and Swampscott offer both senior and veteran tax work-off programs.
On Cape Ann, Rockport and Manchester-by-the-Sea offer the ability of seniors to volunteer to be able to reduce their taxes, while Essex and Gloucester do not.
Councilor at-Large Jason Grow, Councilor at-Large Val Gilman and Ward 2 Councilor Dylan Benson co-sponsored the order to enable the creation of the senior and veterans tax work-off programs before the council’s three-member Ordinances and Administration Standing Committee on Monday, Feb. 5. The committee unanimously recommended the move.
Grow told the subcommittee senior homeowners could volunteer in exchange for an abatement at a rate of 125 hours or $2,000.
“It’s basically minimum wage up to $2,000,” he said.
The senior tax work-off program would be for those 60 and up. There was a recent change in the legislation to allow for “the proxy possibility” for seniors who are infirm or unable to do the volunteer work to appoint someone to do it for them in exchange for the tax abatement, Grow said.
The enabling statute for the veteran tax work-off program makes it eligible for any veteran with no age restriction. This would allow for the establishment of a program for veterans that offers up to a $1,500 tax reduction in exchange for volunteer hours.
The council’s responsibility would be to accept the state legislation and it would be up to the administration to establish the parameters of the program, such as how much its funded, how many volunteers would be recommended, and what the maximum abatement might be, Grow said.
The reason to bring this forward was because property taxes continue to be a burden, especially on seniors.
“We have a program of abatement in the assessors’ office currently that seniors can take advantage of,” he said. “This is just one more opportunity for seniors and veterans to take advantage of volunteering in the community for whatever roles the administration determines is acceptable for this, and take that money off of their taxes and help with the annual expenses of living in Gloucester.”
Gilman, who serves as an ex-officio member of the Council on Aging, said they have been talking about doing a better job about communicating to Gloucester residents about the repertoire of benefits and cost savings available to them.
“Because the cost of aging in place has become more demanding and it’s a big concern for seniors,” she said.
Gilman said she looked online to see what other communities were doing to help seniors save, and one of them was the tax work-off program. Nearly 100 municipalities in Massachusetts doing this. She shared the idea with the Council on Aging “and the response was very positive.”
Benson said he has seen the positive impact of the senior tax work-off programs in other communities.
Lynn, Salem, Amesbury, Beverly, Newburyport and a number of area towns already have senior work-off programs, and Newburyport and Amesbury offer both veteran and senior tax work-off programs.
The reason he thinks this will help senior is because “it’s not forcing anyone to do anything, it’s an incentive and it’s an ability for seniors and veterans to have another way to reduce their property taxes,” Benson said.
Ward 4 Councilor Frank Margiotta, a member of Ordinances and Administration, gave the proposal “kudos.” Ward 3 Councilor and subcommittee member Marjorie Grace asked Benson what types of work seniors were doing.
Benson reiterated the council was only adopting state legislation and it would be up to the administration to enact the program.
However, in other communities, Benson said the work involves clerical volunteer hours to do things like scanning documents, greeting people in City Hall, beach cleanups or helping out at a senior and veterans centers.
Ward 5 Councilor Sean Nolan, the council vice president and chair of the subcommittee, noted that in Rockport, people would adopt fire hydrants to maintain or shovel out.
“There is a lot places for people to give their expertise,” Nolan said.
Grow added state legislation states such programs should not take away jobs or staffing.
With the three-member committee recommending the order’s adoption, the City Council is scheduled to take up the matter under committee reports at its meeting on Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., in the Kyrouz Auditorium in City Hall.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at eforman@gloucestertimes.com.