Tax relief

Thursday, December 22, 2011

None could be more sympathetic with the aims of Helen Cady than we, because we have been saying for decades that New Hampshire’s system of taxation is outmoded and unfair, especially to people on fixed incomes.

Cady, of Milford, wants to see the income threshold for qualifying for elderly property tax relief raised from the current $30,000 for a single person in Milford.

The selectmen have shown some sympathy and are considering the idea, as well they should.

How does this work? It goes by age and income, and rather than go into all the details, we give you this example:

If you live in Milford and are between 65 and 75 and single, if you make less than $30,000 a year from, say, your “entitlement” programs, you can take $67,000 off the assessment on your home. So if your home is assessed at $267,000 (to make it easy) you would subtract the $67,000 and pay property taxes on $200,000, rather than $267,000.

The numbers change as age increases, to the point in Milford where someone over 80 can take off $133,000.

One can argue the numbers. We happen to think that $30,000 in this day and age isn’t much, so we hope the Milford selectmen, and selectmen in other towns will think seriously about increasing the income limits.

But, you ask, how is this fair to other taxpayers who will have to pick up the slack? After all, if Taxpayer A pays less, then the rest of us will have to cover what he or she isn’t putting into the town’s coffers.

Right. It doesn’t seem fair, does it?

And that’s because of our antiquated system of taxation – the property tax.

After all, if Cady and those like her were taxed based upon their income, rather than the value of their property, she, and we, wouldn’t be having this conversation.

Elderly people have earned, over the decades, the right to live in some comfort without having to worry about how to pay the bills or having to decide between paying the tax collector or buying food. There are some people who face that choice or who even lose their homes.

But as long as some legislators continue to think of the money they get from Social Security as “entitlements,” we will never look seriously at the tax system.

Helen Cady has gotten the issue front and center and good for her. Let’s not hide it on the back burner.