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Date: 4/4/2023
CHICOPEE — A series of tax incentive programs that aim to benefit senior citizens and veterans received approval from the City Council during its March 21 meeting. Mayor John Vieau hopes for these efforts to provide relief for residents dealing with high inflation rates on fixed incomes.
Vieau discussed the items during his mayor’s orders. One of the incentive programs for veterans allows them to volunteer for the city to receive relief on their property tax bill. The mayor said the program was spearheaded by Veterans Services Director Stephanie Shaw and City Assessor Laura McCarthy as a spin-off of a preexisting program for seniors.
“It offers a veteran work program of up to $1,500 per year at $15 dollars an hour for roughly 100 hours credited to your taxes,” said Vieau.
Shaw shared that she considered starting this program before the coronavirus pandemic initially. She said its inaugural year will include up to 10 veterans who will work to maintain several of the veteran gravesites throughout the city. Roughly 500 veterans in the city qualify to sign up for the new program once it’s established.
“This will open the door to a new audience of veterans who were not able to previously receive any relief in their property taxes,” said Shaw.
Another tax incentive introduced increases the real estate exemption amount from $500 to $1,000. Vieau and McCarthy explained that the raised exemption is designed to aid seniors who continue to live on a fixed income.
“This is a straight exemption that is based on limited income and assets … We’re really trying to help our older adults who are living on fixed incomes,” said Vieau.
McCarthy said 350 residents qualified for the exemption last year and 760 people will qualify this year. She stressed that the increase will leave a positive impact.
“These are the people who really need the help in our city,” said McCarthy.
The state will reimburse 50 percent of the exemption’s total cost. McCarthy said the increase will cost the city less than $175,000.
The city is also expanding a relief program that allows residents 65 and older to defer their property tax payments until their home is sold. Residents who earn up to $64,000 a year are now eligible to join the program after it was previously only offered to residents with an income of $20,000 a year.
McCarthy said the wider qualifications are being implemented after several inquiries from seniors who were previously not eligible. The deferred taxes are collected when the property is eventually sold or when the property owner dies. Along with the increased eligibility rate, the city is also reducing the interest rate on the deferred taxes from 8% to 2% to make the program more palatable for residents.
“[We] made it a better program for people to be more likely to participate,” said McCarthy.
Members of the council expressed support for the relief initiatives. Ward 9 City Councilor Mary-Elizabeth Pniak-Costello said the different efforts will provide a helping hand to many dealing with economic hardships.
“It will help a lot of people living on the edge. It’s good for the city,” said Pniak-Costello.
Ward 1 City Councilor Joel McAuliffe also highlighted the importance of supporting the city’s veteran community, with roughly 5,000 Chicopee residents previously serving in the military.
“I think it is a significant moment in the city’s history given our background as a military community with a number of veterans,” said McAuliffe.
The City Council approved the proposals in unanimous votes.