Chatham Examines Slate Of Tax Exemptions To Help Residents With High Cost Of Living

CHATHAM – In their ongoing effort to help year-round residents combat the high cost of living — especially housing — select board members are leaving no stone unturned.

 Or, more appropriately, no state statute unexplored.

 With the help of the assessing and finance departments, board members last week reviewed nearly two dozen provisions that can lower an individual’s tax liability. They fall into two buckets, noted Vice Chair Jeff Dykens, who requested the presentation: already existing exemptions and those that have to be accepted by town meeting.

 “I don’t believe many people in town are aware” of many of the exemptions currently on the books, he said at the board’s Sept. 30 meeting. “I wanted to give them air time so people hear what’s out there.”

 Resident Seth Taylor also presented two proposed town meeting articles to accept other state laws that he said would help provide tax assistance to some residents.

 In August the board voted 4-1 to adopt a 35 percent property tax exemption for property owners who occupy their homes year-round. While that will save most year-round homeowners several hundred dollars or more, it will shift the property tax burden to nonresident property owners.

 Board members justified the exemption as a way to provide some relief to year-round residents from the region’s high cost of living, especially housing. The current average assessed value of a home in Chatham is $1.6 million, which is not affordable for most workers based on the region’s average median household income.

 Some of the provisions currently available to residents allow waiving of property taxes and other tax liability (such as motor vehicle excise tax) while others provide for payment deferral, said Assistant Assessor Candace Cook. Many apply to disabled veterans, with the amount of relief often dependent on the level of disability. Other statutes allow deferral of up to 100 percent of taxes for up to three years for seniors and those with financial hardships, as well as exemptions for disabled seniors.

 Massachusetts state law also allows an exemption for the blind as well as a senior work-off program, which provides a $500 property tax abatement in exchange for working in a town department for 62.5 hours.

 Several other exemptions for veterans, seniors and other residents would have to be accepted by town meeting. 

 Details of many of the programs can be found at www.chatham-ma.gov/611/Tax-Relief-Programs.

 Some residents could qualify for more than one exemption or deferment program, Cook said, although by state law a property owner’s taxes cannot be less than 10 percent of a home’s fair market value.

 Taylor’s proposals, which he said he is prepared to submit as petition articles for next May’s annual town meeting if the select board does not accept them, require the acceptance of existing state laws by town meeting. A third would have to be approved at a town election. The provisions would lower the interest rate on outstanding taxes and allow taxpayers whose property is in the tax title process to enter into payment agreements with the town and waive interest as long as the payment schedule is met. Taylor said adopting the provisions would be “hugely beneficial” for many people in town.

 A petition town meeting article sponsored by Taylor last May led to adoption of a state law allowing the town to establish a taxation aid fund, which can be used to cover taxes of low-income seniors and disabled homeowners. Tax bills that arrived in mailboxes last week included for the first time a donation line allowing property owners to contribute to the taxation aid fund.

 Dykens said all of the provisions are worth exploring, especially those that apply to veterans. “Why wouldn’t we do this?” he asked. 

 “Whether it affects many people or not, I don’t know, but I think it’s important to have” the tools available, he said.

 Chair Dean Nicastro noted that the provisions have a fiscal impact. Property taxes that are deferred or exempted must be covered by the overlay fund, which town meeting appropriates annually. He asked that the finance department include a presentation on the overlay fund during the upcoming budget process.

 “It’s a rather arcane topic,” he said.

 Nicastro asked Town Manager Jill Goldsmith to have her staff prepare a report on the various tax exemptions, including fiscal and other implications. The select board will then vote to place the measures on the warrant or ballot.

 “We’ve got more work to do,” said Dykens.