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Sudbury
seniors set to storm State House September 21, 2003 SUDBURY -- Concerned residents are likely to flood the State House Tuesday for a hearing on a home rule petition to establish a senior tax exemption in town. Sudbury's annual Town Meeting in April approved a measure, known as Article 54, which would allow people older than 60 an exemption of either 50 percent of their real estate tax bill or 50 percent of the taxes that would be due for the average valued house in town, whichever is less. For the exemption to be enacted in Sudbury, the state Legislature must approve it. "There's precedent for giving broad-based exemptions to homeowners. What there isn't a precedent for doing is that the qualification be that you're a senior citizen," said Ralph Tyler, the leading proponent of the exemption. The Joint Committee on Taxation will hear the pros and cons of Article 54, which is now called House No. 3909, Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Room 437 of the State House in Boston. Members of the Board of Selectmen will be on hand to give a brief statement reaffirming the board's position. "(Selectman Larry O'Brien) will present our position on behalf of the town on what position we took at Town Meeting and why we think this article would not benefit this community as a whole," said Chairwoman Kirsten Roopenian. The selectmen have found issues with the wording of the article, legality and process. Officials are also worried that creating higher property taxes for those under 60 would make the town less desirable and affect the town's Triple A bond rating. The Finance Committee and Board of Assessors also opposed the exemption at Town Meeting. At Tuesday's hearing, state Rep. Susan Pope, R-Wayland, will introduce the bill to the committee before testimony is given from interested parties. A sign-up sheet will be provided at the hearing for anyone wishing to speak on the matter. For those who cannot attend the hearing, Pope said written testimonies can be sent to her office or to the Joint Committee on Taxation's office. "Generally immediately after the hearing the committee will meet in executive session and decide if they want to give (the bill) a favorable report, send it to another committee or give it to a study committee," Pope said. If given a favorable report, the bill will be presented to the Senate with the House's stamp of approval. It would then be voted on by both groups. "Generally, it takes a very long while to get a bill passed, but we're kind of putting this on the fast track to either put it to bed or give it more legs," said Pope. Roopenian suspects many people will submit written testimony instead of attending the hearing. "From what I understand from talking to people, they are fairly confident the committee on taxation will support their assumption that this is not beneficial to the community as a whole," Roopenian said. Tyler said he plans to attend the hearing in favor of the exemption and may prepare written testimony to present to the committee. "We have an opportunity to let seniors stay in their homes and not force them out," he said.
Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
