SOUTHWICK — Although the Southwick Board of Assessors will formally ask the Select Board to start the process of lowering the age to qualify for the senior property tax exemption from 70 to 65, Town Meeting will have the final say.
“We have talked about this before, and I think that is something I would like to happen … we should maximize the exemptions that we give our taxpayers, especially the elderly,” Board chair John Cain said during the board meeting Monday night.
He and his fellow board members, Dean Horachek and William Brown IV, agreed that most people consider 65 as the unofficial age of retirement, which should be reflected in the statutory exemptions for the elderly.
Town Assessor Randy Austin agreed also.
“I don’t think it’s such a huge difference that we’re worried about a hit on our overlay account. You know, I think maybe made three to five or more people probably qualify,” Austin said.
“I think that might be something that we could do to help out,” he added.
Although lowering the age would need approval from Town Meeting, they approved the start of the process by having the Select Board decide.
“It’s something that we can try and put together so that we’ve got a ready aspect for the next upcoming meeting, or I’m not sure if that would be a Town Meeting thing that they would have to vote on it,” Austin said.
On Tuesday, Town Clerk Christy Myette said that lowering the age requirement would need to be adopted at Town Meeting.
For those who have reached 70, they can file for what is called a 41C exemption, which is an application available at Town Hall.
If the Board of Assessors approves the application, it exempts a flat $1,000 from their property tax bill.
There are income and asset maximums to qualify.
“It is income derived,” said Cindy Demay, a staff member in the Assessor’s office.
She said those with pensions or savings wouldn’t qualify for the exemption because the exemption is targeted for those who are on a fixed income or disabled.
For a single person 70 or older, they can have no more than $57,706 in assets other than their residence. For those 70 or older and married, the maximum assets are $61,282. Demay said the state sets those maximums, and they increase each year based on the increase in the cost of living.
When Demay was asked if the $1,000 exemption ever increased with the cost-of-living increase, she said no. When asked why, she said, “That’s a good question.”
The board does verify the asset amount before it approves an exemption, Demay said.
Austin also updated the board on how the office had handled the public disclosure of property values with the undervaluations discovered in October during the revaluation process.
“I was contacted by quite a few people and made a lot of adjustments prior to getting everything set,” he said.
Cain asked approximately how many residents have questioned their property valuation.
“We’ve probably had more questions that I did inspection …it was quite a few … at least 30,” he said, which prompted a response from Cain.
‘OK, so 30 out of 2,500,” Cain said, and was quickly corrected by Austin that the number of residential properties is 3,183, which meant about 1% of residents contacted the office.
“Well, that’s good,” Cain said.
With the public disclosure period over, Austin said residents who want to challenge the valuation of their property will have to wait until Jan. 1, when the office begins accepting applications for abatements, which is when tax bills go out.
The abatement period is open until Feb. 2.
The board has 90 days to respond to every request for an abatement.
Austin said he has tentatively scheduled a Meet the Assessor night for Jan. 15, which will be posted on the website.
“If [residents] have further questions, they still have that time period to file an abatement and move on with the process,” Austin said, adding that there should have been more advance notice before the Ask the Assessors meeting held last week.
