10/31/08 Selectmen may cut back on plan for seniors - Greenwich Time

Concerned about the fiscal ramifications for the town and that there might not be enough money to go around, the Board of Selectmen is leaning toward scaling back a proposal to expand senior property tax relief.

Instead of raising the annual income cap from $39,000 to $65,000 for the program, a ceiling of $60,000 was settled on Thursday as selectmen took up the proposal for the second time in as many weeks.

The board also expressed its reluctance to include a provision in the town's elderly tax relief ordinance that would increase the total amount available for property tax credits from the current $1 million by $250,000 yearly, favoring that any increases be tied to the consumer price index for the area.

Selectmen also balked at a request that the town offer seniors the option to defer their property taxes until after they die, until the cost of the measure, which some have estimated at $7 million annually, could be determined.

"I don't think anyone can argue with the virtues it. (But) we don't know the fiscal impact," First Selectman Peter Tesei said of a deferral program.

Such a provision would allow participants to put off paying their taxes to future years, usually at an interest rate of 4 percent to 6 percent. The town would be reimbursed for deferred money when the resident sold his or her home or dies.

Town resident Frank Manley, who isn't eligible for the program himself but has taken an interest in the issue, told selectmen that a deferral option

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