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COA Board holds off on Senior Tax Rebate

Date: 5/15/2012

May 14, 2012

By Chris Maza

chrism@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW — The Longmeadow Council on Aging's (COA) Board of Directors has opted to hold off on its proposal for the Senior Tax Rebate in light of new information regarding the struggles of a similar program in Massachusetts.

John Bowen, chair of the COA Board of Directors, told Reminder Publications that the town of Sudbury's Means Tested Senior Citizen Property Tax Exemption proposal, which was approved by its residents at a January Town Meeting, has not yet been approved by the State Senate.

Bowen said he learned from David Levington, chair of the Sudbury COA, that because the state found several areas of concern, a new House bill requesting state approval had to be filed.

"I do not want Longmeadow to go through that. I think I know what happened but I want time to gather more information," he said.

Some of the concerns surrounding the Sudbury program involve the definition of income and ownership, language issues, and the original provision allowing for too much flexibility.

After receiving this information, Bowen requested and received unanimous support from the 12 members of the Longmeadow COA's Board of Directors to request that the town take no action on Article 8 at the May 8 Annual Town Meeting, with the intent of continuing to develop the proposal so as to avoid the difficulties Sudbury has encountered.

Bowen said he intends to hand the proposal over to a "working group" of town officials to close any existing gaps in order to bring a more solid proposal to the Special Town Meeting in the fall.

Bowen said he still believes that the Senior Tax Rebate is a good idea for the town and one that has the support of the community, but he wishes to do the job right the first time.

"The proposal is still a good one. It makes good sense for Longmeadow to encourage seniors to 'age in place' in the dignity of their own homes. It is also good for the town in that it takes pressure off the school system," he said. "However, good ideas often get lost in the details. We want to do more work on our article before offering it once again at a future Town Meeting. In the meantime we intend to focus on the programs that Longmeadow already has in place."



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