A recent survey of Harvard seniors indicates that rising property taxes are the number one concern of those that responded, followed by the need for smaller, less expensive housing. The survey, commissioned by the Council on Aging and compiled by COA board member Frances Nickerson, was mailed to 900 individuals over the age of 60 last spring. The purpose of the survey was to establish advocacy efforts for the COA, Director Ginger Quarles said.
Of the 157 seniors who returned the survey, most anticipate an eventual need to move. “A major conclusion [of the report] is that a very large number of longtime residents would like to continue living in Harvard but fear that they cannot,” Nickerson wrote in the summary. Board of Assessors Chairman Rick Maiore wasn’t surprised by the survey results, he said. “It’s fairly obvious since we’ve been doing the assessing and setting the tax rate for the last three years that what seniors are concerned about is the rate at which taxes are increasing.” Even seniors with investment income are often unable to keep up with tax increases, he said, and those with a fixed income are in an even less favorable position.
While he doesn’t see any immediate answers, Maiore proposed two possible solutions. “We have to be a lot more aggressive about getting our share of Chapter 70 funds,” he said, adding, “Because we’re not a regional school district, that has worked against us in the [reimbursement] formula.” In addition, Maiore said, Harvard needs to reevaluate its commercial property, and lack thereof. “We also need to look at our commercial district and see how we’re going to increase from 4 percent [of total assessed property in Harvard] to 7 or 8 percent.” A higher percentage of commercial property would allow the assessors to reconfigure the tax rate, potentially bringing in more revenue for the town. In addition, Maiore said, commercial property is less costly to support because it does not consume many services from the town, whereas many residential properties require supporting services, such as schools.
COA Chairwoman Carlene Phillips was not surprised by the results of the survey either. “I think that property taxes are such a concern for senior citizens,” she said in a phone interview Tuesday. The COA will focus its advocacy efforts on following some current legislation that involves raising the cap on the senior tax work-off program, Phillips said, as well as a possible cap on property taxes for seniors.
When asked about the town’s progress toward providing smaller housing, Maiore was less optimistic. In his experience as a selectman and in other roles in the community, he said, this is a problem that has been approached many times by different groups in town. “I don’t have an answer, and I don’t think too many people in town have an answer,” he said. “But we can do something about the tax issue.”
Quarles was slightly more hopeful that the housing situation will improve over time, and cited the Mass. Avenue and Littleton Road 40B developments as projects headed in the right direction. “I’m glad to see that some of the housing groups in Harvard are recognizing [the seniors’] need and helping to ensure that kind of housing is going to be an option here,” she said.
Phillips also believes the survey results underscore the need for alternative housing. The focus doesn’t have to be exclusively “affordable” housing, she said, but could also include options for downsizing for those with more comfortable incomes. “We’re going to keep better tabs on the different housing boards in town,” she said. “We need to be up on what the possibilities are.”
Phillips was somewhat disappointed with the survey’s low rate of return, she said, and wonders what concerns those who didn’t return the survey have for their future. However, both she and Quarles will use the information gleaned from the survey to chart the COA’s course for the near future. “It helps us set our priorities,” Quarles said.
