A real estate tax break for seniors
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Clinton S. Lee
Published: March 12, 2008
In the Potomac News letter to the editor published on March 8 by Andrew Jaeger “A senior citizen’s real estate tax concerns” precisely expresses my views too.
The Tax Relief Program for Elderly and Disabled Persons currently in place by the Department of Finance Real Estate Division should be revised to accommodate a more realistic criteria pertaining to the financial net worth value for seniors.
The three major requirements for Senior Citizens to qualify for 2008 relief are 1) be 65 or older 2) have gross income not more than $69,600 and 3) net worth of not more than $340,000, excluding value of residence.
The latter requirement has been the basis for many years and would be an appropriate adjustment means to financially help senior citizens to keep up with current times.
As indicated in Mr. Jaeger’s letter, the many rising costs of basic living and other expenses is justification for adjusting the net worth requirement from $340,000 to at least $500,000. This would give seniors a reasonable real estate tax break.
Seniors interested in applying for 2008 TAX RELIEF should contact the Prince William County Real Estate Assessments Office for more detail and obtain the necessary application prior to April 15. The phone number to call is 703-792-6780. Detail information is also available on the http://www.pwcgov.org Web site.
It is incumbent for Senior Citizens to seek Prince William County Board of Supervisors approval to modify the existing financial net worth qualification from $340,000 to $500,000 for future tax years. One senior helping another.
CLINTON S. LEE
Manassas
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Posted by ( MikeG ) on March 13, 2008 at 3:10 pm
However it’s done, there is not a doubt in my mind that the senior citizens of this county, this state, and indeed this entire country need to be provided relief from exhorbitant and escalating property taxes. Once a citizen who has worked hard all their careers reaches retirement age, and their income suddenly not only greatly reduces as a result of retirement but suddenly becomes fixed, the only logical outcome in this state is that eventually they will be forced out of their homes because they can’t afford to pay their property taxes. This is an absolute outrage and a slap in the face of every senior who has paid federal and state income taxes, property taxes, and every other form of tax the government has been able to devise their entire working lives. This state should be looking for ways to significantly reduce the property tax burden on seniors who are on fixed incomes, and not just for ways to give them a “little break”. Just increasing the net worth qualification from 340 to 500 thousand dollars isn’t significant enough to protect most seniors. More should be done, such as allowing seniors to designate their residence as a “homestead” and shelter themselves not only from a good portion of current property taxes, but also from future increases. Seniors should organize and lobby our state legislators and county supervisors for these and other forms of relief. Seniors are representative of the best of this country and deserve the ability to live without fear of losing their homes due to an inability to pay property taxes.
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