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Date: 2/15/2023
SOUTHWICK — The Select Board voted unanimously on Feb. 6 to eliminate the income limit for the Senior Citizen Tax Work-Off Program in Southwick, at the request of the Senior Center director.
The program allows Southwick residents aged 60 and up to work a limited number of hours each year in different departments at Town Hall, in Southwick schools, or at the Southwick Public Library. For every one hour worked, participants get $15 taken off their property tax bill, for a maximum discount of $1,500 a year.
Previously the program was only available to low-income seniors, with a maximum income limit of $54,360 if living alone, or $73,240 for a married couple. The Select Board voted Monday to eliminate that limit.
“Even those higher incomes have been challenging for seniors lately,” Senior Center Director Cindy Sullivan said to the Select Board.
Sullivan later said that the income limits that existed before would often exclude seniors, including some who were very close to the cutoff.
“Every year I have had to turn people away. Some of them are off by $100 or $1,000, but there was no leeway for us,” said Sullivan.
The program is only budgeted to serve 10 people per year. Sullivan said in previous years, there were never enough participants to use all of the budget, even as would-be participants were being turned away because their incomes were too high to qualify. If applications to participate in the program increase, applicants who did not use the program in the previous year will be given priority.
Other restrictions on participation will remain: Participating seniors must be up to date with their taxes, cannot be a current town employee, and must pass a criminal record check. Sullivan also said that the senior participating in the program must be the legal owner of the property to which the tax abatement would be applied.
“We do get a lot of seniors where the kid owns the home. The senior has to be the one who owns the home,” said Sullivan.
For more information on the Senior Citizen Tax Work-Off Program, call Sullivan at 569-5498 or visit www.southwickma.org/council-aging/pages/tax-work-program.