1. A healthy community needs a wide mix of citizens of all ages, and it is reasonable that the town establish a tax policy which, to the modest extent it is able, encourages the elderly members of the community to stay in town and share their wisdom and experiences with the young.
2. Many elderly citizens pay far more in taxes than they directly receive in services from the town, and they also are a major source of volunteers for many events and projects.
3. Many elderly citizens are on fixed incomes, and at least some of them find the escalating costs of living such a great burden that they are forced to leave their homes and retire to other communities, away from their families and friends.
1. The Ridgefield Tax Credit for the elderly is a tax credit of up to $600 annually for any resident over the age of 65
2. The $600 limit has not been changed in a dozen years.
3. There are approximately 7,554 households in town (using the 1990 Census) and the median age of the population is 37.1 years.
4. About 1,956 people in town are over age 65. There are approximately 1,070 households on the tax credit program. This costs the town about $600,000 in lost tax revenues.
5. Approximately 85 households involved in the program involve property with market values of greater than $300,000, and four of them are over $1 million.
Using data provided by the tax assessor, from the Public Library and C.C.M., it appears that --
1. Almost every town has a tax credit for the elderly.
2. Of twelve towns surveyed
a. Eleven towns had income-based qualifications.
b. The average income-based qualification in the eleven towns was $19,500
c. The average benefit was $204 per household, and the average cost to the individual town averaged $120,000 per town.
d. Every town required citizens applying for the tax credit to show proof of income in a form and manner usually determined by the tax assessor and tax collector.
e. Every town required citizens applying for the tax credit to apply for any and all State aid for which they qualified.
f. One town (Darien) used a combination of income and asset criteria. In this instance, the threshold was $295,000 in assessed value, at which the benefits were sharply reduced for incomes up to a maximum annual income of $20,800.
g. Every town had a minimum residency requirement of between one year and three years.
h. Every town had a occupancy requirement of between 183 days and 250 days per year.
1. The current Ridgefield program is among the most generous and most expensive of the twelve programs surveyed
2. The current Ridgefield program imposes the fewest restrictions upon applicants, in comparison to other towns.
3. The current Ridgefield program makes no effort to ensure the funds being dispersed are achieving the goals.
1. The town should develop a more sophisticated management program for the tax credit. This should include:
a. Pro-rating the tax credit from the time the individual qualifies
b. Ensuring that surviving spouses are included properly
c. Ensuring that applicants also seek other aid to which they are available
d. Insuring that the occupancy regulations are enforced.
2. The town should change the program from an entitlement to a needs-based benefit program. This would be accomplished by "screening" all new applicants with an income criteria.
a. Based on 1990 census data, an income level of $40,000 should be used, but it should be updated periodically. (This was originally proposed to be $30,000, but a wise suggestion from Steffi Jones prompted the upward revision to $40,000.)
b. Anyone receiving benefits under the current program should be "grandfathered" in for as long as they meet the other requirements, unless they meet the income criteria to the satisfaction of the Assessor and the Collector
3. Anyone qualifying for the tax credit should receive a benefit of $850 per year
a. The residents operating under the "grandfathered" rules would retain their $600 award.
b. Residents operating under the "grandfathered" rules can increase to the $850 level by providing proof of income to the satisfaction of the Assessor and the Collector.
Assuming that half of the people on the current program meet the $40,000 income criteria, this program would cost about $775,000 in the first year -- only $75,000 more than current program at the newly raised entitlement level. But within seven years, the total cost of the program would drop to about $703,000 (assuming 20 households move off the "grandfathered" program each year). More importantly, the revised program would ensure that town's money was going to households which have significant need for the funds.
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