Senior Property Tax Meeting Cancelled

The August 12 Select Board meeting to discuss implementing a senior tax exemption has been cancelled.

On August 5, Select Board Chair Gary Sagar read a letter from Joyce Solomon from the Board of Assessors, which said “the town does not have the financial resources to support the program.”  Solomon notified Sagar that the Assessors would be cancelling their appearance at the August 12 meeting.

However, the town’s Finance Director, Jennifer Argo, denied Solomon’s claims in a letter to the Select Board. According to Argo, Solomon had requested using a portion of the Town’s Free Cash.

Argo informed Solomon that FY’26 Free Cash would “not be certified until October and any use of those funds will still require Town Meeting approval. Because of those restrictions, Free Cash was not available to fund the program upfront. After discussing the funding option, (Solomon) decided not to move forward with the new program because it could not be funded upfront. I want to be clear that I never said the Town does not have the financial resources to support the Senior Property Tax program.”

The Board of Assessors presented a plan for senior property tax relief at the July 22 meeting. Their intention was to provide an exemption for anyone 65 years old and up. “They can not generate the income that a young person can generate,” Solomon noted.

Sagar had said if the exemption were to be implemented, it would create a $2.6 million budget shortfall for the town.

Solomon noted 1900 residents are 65 and older. She added the last time the town provided a tax exemption for seniors was in 2006.