Lending A Hand: Petition Seeks To Help Low-income Taxpayers

CHATHAM – Prompted by the case of a Cedar Street resident, a town meeting article will ask voters to establish a fund to help low-income elderly and disabled residents pay their property taxes.

 If the measure is approved, taxpayers would be able to include a donation with their biannual tax bills. The fund would be overseen by a taxation aid committee that would identify recipients and disperse payments.

 The petition article was submitted by Seth Taylor as an alternative to a measure he previously sponsored which asked voters to directly pay approximately $60,000 in overdue property taxes for an elderly Cedar Street resident. However, town counsel ruled that state law prohibits direct payment of tax funds to individuals and the article would likely be rejected by the Attorney General.

 A GoFundMe campaign has since been started to raise money to help pay the woman’s overdue taxes, according to resident Brian Phillips. The fundraiser can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/reduce-the-cedar-street-tax-bill-avoid-illegal-article. 

Because it was submitted by petition, Taylor’s initial article will appear on the May 10 annual town meeting warrant, although the select board is recommending voters turn it down because of its questionable legality. Taylor said early this week that he still plans to move the article from the floor of town meeting.

 Select board members voted unanimously March 18 to recommend Taylor’s article to establish the taxation aid fund under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 60, Section 3D, which allows towns to establish funds to help low-income elderly and disabled meet property tax liabilities. Wellfleet has a similar program in place.

 Under the proposal, the taxation aid committee would include the chairman of the board of assessors, treasurer and three residents appointed by the select board. The committee would adopt rules and regulations under which members would determine who qualifies for aid and how much to disburse.

 Review of applications by the committee, whose members would have access to tax and other records, would ensure that the system is not abused, Taylor said. While the committee would be subject to the state Open Meeting Law, applicants’ privacy and dignity should be respected, he said.

 “I don’t think anybody should be forced in these circumstances to come before a board in public,” he said. He also suggested that the committee could report how many people were assisted and how much was expended at town meeting annually, “so we understand how it’s working. I don’t think this should be hidden in the closet,” he said.

 “I think this is a great idea,” board member Dean Nicastro said. He recommended there to be an option to donate for taxpayers who pay electronically as well as those who mail in payments.

Board members were not as enthusiastic about another petition article submitted by Taylor that would allow money from free cash to be transferred into the taxation aid fund by any voter at the annual town meeting.

Town Counsel Jason Talerman said while he admired the altruism behind Taylor’s petition article, he was concerned that it could handicap the use of free cash, should a voter propose that the entire amount be dedicated to the taxation aid fund. A town meeting article must also include a dollar amount, he said.

Taylor said there is a “deep, burning concern in the community” about accumulation of free cash, which has totaled $2 million or more annually for many years. This year’s free cash was certified by the state at $11 million. His article would give voters the opportunity to determine how they want to spend those funds, rather than having officials dictate where to expend the money, he said.

In an email Monday, Taylor said that he may either amend or not move that article.