MONROE, Conn. — After a call for more discussions throughout the year and an amendment for an increased benefit was voted down, the Town Council unanimously approved a proposal to increase a tax relief benefit for senior citizens and the disabled who qualify by $300 across the board Monday night.
The amendment to the Elderly and Permanently Disabled Tax Relief Ordinance resulted from meetings between First Selectman Terry Rooney, Tax Assessor Justin Feldman, the Finance Department and Susan Bannay, chair of the Monroe Commission for the Aging. It was also recommended by the Board of Finance and reviewed by Town Attorney Frank Lieto and the Town Council’s Legislative and Administrative Committee.
The Town Council originally approved a benefit increase of $450 for all income brackets that qualify, but had to go back to $300, because that is the amount the Board of Finance reviewed before the meeting.
At one point, Town Councilman Jason Maur had proposed an amendment to increase the amount to $600 across the board, but that was defeated by a vote of 7 to 1 with Chairman Jonathan Formichella, Vice Chair Dona-Lyn Wales, Enid Lipeles, Kevin Reid, Sean O’Rourke, Vin Duva and Nina Gagnon voting against it.
This was because the assessor did not express confidence that the town’s contingency could cover more than $450.
With the $300 benefit increase those earning a household income of $30,440 or less are eligible for a maximum annual tax reduction of $1,800, an increase from $1,500.
The rest of the revisions include:
- An income range of $30,440 to $41,580; a maximum tax reduction of $1,300 increases to $1,600
- $41,580 to $52,720; $1,100 benefit will be $1,400
- $52,720 to $63,860; $900 benefit will be $1,200
- $63,860 to $75,000; $600 benefit will be a $900 tax reduction.
Prior to the Council’s deliberations, several residents spoke during a public hearing, including Elizabeth Richer.
“I am here to speak in support of the proposed amendment to increase tax relief for our senior residents,” she said. “Many of you know that I was an advocate for the town budget this season, including both the municipal services and the schools that serve our families. I believe strongly in funding the programs and infrastructure that makes Monroe a beautiful place to live and I hold that position just as firmly tonight.”
“An advocacy for a strong town budget, an advocacy for our seniors, are not in competition,” she continued. “They are expressions of the same value: that Monroe takes care of its neighbors at every stage of life. We are all a part of this community together, and the health of that community depends on our willingness to look out for one another.”
Richer said passage of the amendment would provide real and meaningful relief for those who need it.
Carlos Da Silva suggested looking into a tax freeze program “with necessary guidelines” to help seniors stay in their homes. He proposed including households earning up to $75,000.
One woman who spoke said her house has been in her husband’s family since 1918 and her family has no intention to sell, so while a strong school system helps with resale values, it does not help them. She asked for a tax freeze program and higher benefits in the town’s current tax relief program.
Joseph Wright asked the Town Council to consider a freeze, a tax deferment program or one that would make a resident totally tax exempt.
Town Councilman Jason Maur spoke as a resident. He said he believes the town could offer even more relief and that the numbers support that.
Using numbers obtained from the First Selectman’s Office, he said the town spent more on the tax relief program in 2012 than it did last year, $396,121 for 569 recipients compared to $258,398 for 300 recipients.
“We should be providing more relief,” Maur said. “I guarantee you all of the seniors are paying more taxes than they were in 2012 by a large margin.”
Aside from calling for a higher benefit, Maur said town leaders should come up with a “firm target” to meet, along with a plan that automatically adjusts amounts for Monroe’s tax relief program on an annual basis, depending on the mill rate or some other numbers, so the Town Council does not have to go through the same process every year.
Town Council takes action
“This administration is making a concerted effort to mitigate rising costs and tax impact to our senior citizens in Monroe as budgetary requirements and inflationary costs continue to place increased pressure on our elderly and permanently disabled residents,” First Selectman Terry Rooney told the Town Council. “This administration continues to recognize the need to provide property tax relief to these valued residents.”
Last year, Rooney proposed increasing eligibility for the tax relief program and the Town Council approved it. This year, after being able to evaluate the impact of revaluation, he proposed increasing the benefit amounts.
“Nothing has been done with this since 2007,” he said. “My administration has focused on this closely for tax reductions to be more aligned with impactful tax relief.”
Formichella noted how the Town Council had decided to enhance Rooney’s proposal for a $300 increase across the board by another $150, and asked Feldman if there is enough contingency to absorb that.
“I think it’s very possible,” Feldman said. “All things equal as far as the recipients go, we’d be looking at about a $70,000 increase, so $450 would probably be somewhere between around $70,000 and $140,000. But there’s just a lot of unknowns right now with the filing period still being open. We don’t know what the total number of recipients are.”
Feldman said he was comfortable with a $300 benefit and thought there would be enough of a cushion to handle a $450 benefit, though he could not guarantee that.
Asked if the program could fund a benefit above $450, Feldman said he was “a bit uncomfortable.”
Formichella pointed out that the state of Connecticut used to reimburse towns for a portion of their tax relief programs, but stopped doing that around 2017.
Nevertheless, Maur said he thought the town could accommodate a $600 increase across the board, because there are other contingency accounts in the budget and the governor recently announced Monroe will receive $210,918 more for education and another $51,404 in supplemental aid for municipal expenses — money that was not expected.
But the first selectman said this has not been finalized by the governor’s office at this point, so it is just a suggestion.
Maur made a motion for a $600 increase and it was seconded by Gagnon. Maur also called for more long term planning for tax relief.
“We should have a goal in sight and move towards that goal instead of just inching our way forward,” he said. “I believe this is well within what we can do — further to that, we owe it to our seniors.”
Councilman Vin Duva said, “I think it’s a good idea. It’s wise to give tax relief to seniors. We want these people to stay in town for the long term. We don’t want to drive them out and make them think that they have to sell their houses to get out because it’s getting too expensive.”
Duva said he was more than willing to approve $450 across the board, because of what the tax assessor said, but nothing higher, because Feldman was uncomfortable with that due to unknowns.
Councilman Kevin Reid said just because there are other contingency accounts in the town budget, it does not mean it should be used for this.
“Contingency stops being mitigation,” Reid said. “It almost becomes a hidden discretionary spend. This budget has been approved. I agree next year, ‘can we get more?’ But we have a budget. I trust the assessor. I just want to make sure we don’t hammer away at a discretionary spend.”
“I think going $150 above the $300 is a really strong gesture from the Council,” Reid added. “Can we do more next year? We have to build it in from the beginning.”
Formichella agreed with Duva and Reid.
“I would love to plan for it ahead of time, but then I need to be part of the conversation,” Maur said. “Those discussions were had in a 30 minute meeting by one party, instead of having it out here on the record. We could have had those discussions. We could have been discussing this prior to the budget, so we could leave more in the budget.”
Instead, Maur said he received the proposal last Friday, then had Monday’s public hearing to make a judgement call.
Formichella told Maur what he was saying did not fall on deaf ears, but pointed out that the contingency for increased tax relief was presented in the first selectman’s budget proposal.
However, he said the Council’s Strategic Planning Committee could hold multiple meetings on senior tax relief this year in preparation for next year’s budget.
Gagnon agreed there should be more planning.
The Town Council approved the $450 increase unanimously, before later going back to a $300 benefit across the board, because the latter is what the Board of Finance had reviewed.
All respectful comments with the commenter’s first and last name are welcome.
“I believe the Town could easily approve the higher amount suggested at the meeting by using the remaining surplus balance. It’s unlikely that the tax rates attracted more seniors to move here. To put it in perspective, the total amount is roughly equivalent to a single Town employee’s benefit package.”