For the second time in four years, Selectman Stu Sklar has asked his colleagues on the board to support tax relief for Harvard’s most hard-pressed senior citizens.
At Tuesday night’s selectmen’s meeting, Sklar proposed that Harvard adopt a means-tested tax exemption similar to those offered by Hamilton, Sudbury, Concord, and other towns. The proposal would be in the form of a home-rule petition to the Legislature, which would have to approve the measure before it could take effect. Sklar said that if the selectmen withheld their support, he intended to add his plan to the warrant for the 2018 Annual Town Meeting by means of a citizen petition.
“I’d like the board to get behind it,” said Sklar. “One way or another I’m bringing it to the town.”
The plan aims to ensure that qualifying seniors pay no more than 10 percent of their annual household income to the town in property taxes. The draft bylaw presented to the selectmen Tuesday requires an applicant to be at least 65 years old and to have lived in town for more than 10 years in a house with an assessed value no more than 10 percent higher than the average assessed value of a single-family Harvard home. Only single filers whose income was less than $57,000 per year, single heads of household with income less than $71,000, or married applicants with income less than $86,000 would qualify. Applications would be approved by Harvard’s Board of Assessors, which could reject an applicant whose other assets, such as stocks, bonds, or a 401(k) retirement account, placed them “outside the intended recipients.” The amount of the exemption granted by the town would be limited to 50 percent of the taxes due.
Making up lost revenue
To make up for revenue lost to senior tax relief, the rest of Harvard’s homeowners would see a slight increase in their own property taxes, but the total contribution by the town would be capped initially at 0.5 percent of a given year’s levy, though over time it could be increased to 1.0 percent. By studying Sudbury’s experience, Sklar estimates that of the 2,300 homes in Harvard, 80 might qualify for the exemption, causing a bump of $50 in the tax bill of the owner of a $629,155 residence, the average assessed value of residences in Harvard. Higher value homes would see larger increases. Sklar’s back-of-the-envelope estimate is that his program would cost taxpayers other than exempted seniors an additional $100,000 to $120,000 in the first year to make up lost revenue from the exemptions.
These numbers are preliminary and have yet to be vetted by the Finance Department or the Board of Assessors, Sklar acknowledged. The Council on Aging’s board of directors has not reviewed the plan, nor has the Elderly and Disabled Taxation Aid Committee. The language of the proposal was adopted from the home-rule petitions of Sudbury and Concord, but has not yet been reviewed by Harvard’s town counsel. Meantime, a subcommittee of the School Committee is considering ways to lessen the taxpayer impact of a new elementary school, but has not yet met with Sklar.
Sklar told the Press he was especially concerned for Harvard’s oldest seniors, those who had moved to town 30 years or more ago and seen large increases in the assessed value of their homes. They must pay for health care and drugs whose costs continue to rise, and should Town Meeting approve construction of a new school, these elders will see a dramatic increase in their annual property taxes, he said.
Selectmen react
The reaction of the three other selectmen present at Tuesday’s meeting—Alice von Loesecke was absent—ranged from cautious to supportive. Chairwoman Lucy Wallace thanked Sklar and Finance Committee associate member Jennifer Finch, who helped prepare the proposal, for their work and said she would like to see an article on the warrant for this year’s Annual Town Meeting. Although time is short, she said, with a later than usual Town Meeting planned for May, a placeholder article could be added to the warrant while its precise language was being developed.
Selectwoman Kara Minar said she was worried about the timing. She questioned whether there was enough time to build support. She said she was uncomfortable leaving the review of assets to the Board of Assessors and asked for clearer criteria. She suggested that Harvard find a way to direct money to the town’s Elderly and Disabled Taxation Aid Fund, allowing taxpayers to deduct their payments as charitable contributions.
Selectman Ken Swanton said that adoption of the bylaw would be “a significant change” for Harvard and should not be rushed. He objected to its being offered less than four weeks before the Feb. 1 deadline for 2018 warrant articles. He also recommended that the age requirement be raised to 70 years and residency to 20 years, and he said relief should apply only to condominiums and houses that were primary residences. But the idea deserved discussion, he said. “Bring it back soon,” he told Sklar.
Déjà vu
This is not the first time a means-tested senior tax relief proposal has been presented to the selectmen and town. A similar bylaw was proposed in 2012 by the Elderly and Disabled Taxation Aid Committee. But the Finance Committee opposed it because it would have drawn money from the town’s overlay budget, which is used to pay for other exemptions and abatements as well as the senior tax work-off program. After some debate, then-Selectman Peter Warren, one of its authors, moved to pass over the article, to which a majority agreed.
Sklar attempted to revive the proposal at an April 2014 meeting of the Board of Selectmen. He was encouraged to seek feedback from the Elderly and Disabled Taxation Aid Committee. Again, in February 2015, as the warrant for that year’s Annual Town Meeting was being prepared, Sklar asked that the bylaw be placed on the warrant. Then-board members Lucy Wallace, Ron Ricci, Leo Blair, and Ken Swanton voiced objections similar to those expressed this week. According to the minutes of that meeting, Wallace did not think there was enough time to educate the community, and Wallace again expressed her concern about how assets were to be determined. Without support from the Council on Aging or the leadership of the selectmen, there was a good chance the measure would not pass, she said at the time.
Swanton said in 2015 that while the proposal might be a good idea, he did not like it coming up so late in the process. Sudbury had worked on its proposal for years with the involvement of the COA, Finance Committee, and Board of Assessors, none of which Harvard had done. He suggested that vetting of such an article needed to begin in the fall. Blair wondered if it made sense to float the idea at Annual Town Meeting to gauge voter reaction. Sklar said that if he did not get the board’s support he would submit a citizen petition. Blair urged him not to. Later that month when it came time to close the warrant, the selectmen decided not to include Sklar’s proposal. No vote is recorded in their minutes. Sklar did not submit a petition.
