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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-01-14-TDES-min RECEIVED d 2 3 0 J u in, d TOWN CLERK LEXINGTON MA MINUTES OF MEETING OF SELECTMEN'S TAX DEFERRAL AND EXEMPTION STUDY COMMITTEE January 14, 2005 at 3:30 PM at Town Offices Present: Vicki Blier, Marilyn Campbell, Pat Costello, Norm Cohen, Peter Kelley and Tom Taylor. Vicki reviewed the activities of the past year: 1. Cl. 41A Tax Deferral. 21 homeowners got about$80,000 in deferments in 2003. It was felt this should be the main source of tax relief for Lexington seniors. 2. Cl. 41 C Exemptions. As passed by TM last year this gives qualifying seniors a maximum exemption of$750. 34 homeowners got a total of$17,000 exemptions in 2004. We don't know yet if more people are applying this year since they have until July. Pat and Marilyn thought more people would apply if it could be done at the COA rather than Town Hall. They will investigate the possibility with the Assessor. We next discussed additional tax relief possibilities available under existing law: 1. Increase the exemption under 4 1 C to $1000. 2. Add a COLA to the income limit under 41C. 3. Increase all exemptions by 100%. Adopting this provision would make it apply to all exemptions the Town gives including veterans exemptions. The Assessor believes this would create a nightmare for him. There followed a discussion of the legislation proposed in the Legislature this year. The new law would have qualification based on the "circuit breaker law" as it presently exists for income tax exemption. If the law in this form is passed and Lexington accepts it, the cost to the town could run to $1,000,000 a year. Since there is nothing in the present proposals exempting these amounts from Prop. 2 1/2 , it would all come out of the expense budget, which would be totally unacceptable to the Town. We next discussed possible goals of the committee for this year: 1. Raise the 4 1 C exemption to $1000. 2. Add a COLA to the income limit in 41C. 3. File a Home Rule petition with the Legislature to change the interest requirement in 4 1 A to a current rate rather than the required 8%, as was done by Wellesley. 4. Increase the amount of relief available under the"work off' program to $1000 if permitted by law. Peter thought this should await more data on what work is actually available. 5. Educate seniors to encourage use of deferrals and exemptions. It was not clear whether this was part of the job of this committee. It was informally agreed that education to encourage deferrals should wait until a more favorable interest rate is available. It was decided that we would propose to the Selectmen for TM action the following: (1) adding a COLA and (2) filing a Home Rule petition. Vicki is to meet with the Selectmen to propose these measures. Tom Taylor, acting sect'.