Tax Freeze Proposed For Elderly

by Melissa Bailey | February 5, 2007 11:46 PM | | Comments (5)

IMG_7105.JPGRegaining the helm of a city rocked by youth violence and whose elders are getting squeezed by property taxes, DeStefano unveiled plans to keep young truants and elderly homeowners safe.

Ushered in by a group of five outstanding teens, DeStefano delivered his annual State of the City address to a packed aldermanic chambers Monday. Click here for the full text of the final draft of his speech.

Noting the city’s new property revaluations will shift the property tax burden from businesses to homeowners, DeStefano made a proposal to keep the elderly from being pushed out of town.

For elderly folks making less than $50,000, he proposed a property tax freeze.

Elderly people making over $50,000 could choose to defer their property tax until they sell their home.

“This will keep our seniors in the house where they have spent their lives, and raised their kids, on every street and in every neighborhood in the city,” said the mayor.

The proposal met applause, especially from Alderwoman Arelene DePino, who made a similar proposal a year ago at her Republican State of the City address.

“I’m really excited about this. I’ve been working on this for over a year.” She cautioned that the financial impact had not yet been ascertained, and the proposal was “not a done deal yet.”

City Hall estimates 3,700 seniors in New Haven own their own homes. The cost of the tax freeze would be balanced by cost savings in the budget that the mayor will announce next month, according to mayoral spokesman Derek Slap.

A public hearing will be held on the elderly tax freeze on April 19 at 6 p.m. in City Hall, said DePino, encouraging elderly people to attend.

Truants and The Expelled

Building on his youth violence initiatives, the mayor pushed the Street Outreach Workers Program, saying the project will be launched whether or not an attempt to get state funds works out. DeStefano says he plans for the coordinator of the Street Outreach Workers Program, Officer Shafiq Abdussabur, to start May 1. Funds for the $300,000 program will be “cobbled together” through a mix of private, non-profit and government funds, he said. Outreach workers would focus in on truants and directly confront truants’ parents.

Dwight Alderwoman Joyce Chen, said she thought the outreach program would be “a step in the right direction but that in itself may not be large enough.” The program will employ nine outreach workers.

“You could use up eight people just on my block,” said Chen.

The Street Outreach Worker Program will be bolstered by a program offering resources to students who have been expelled.







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Comments

Posted by: Bruce | February 6, 2007 8:16 AM

How about working on lowering property taxes for everyone? This is never on his agenda and remains one of the last bones I have to pick with the mayor. He kicked the mob out of city hall. He dropped his misguided plans for the long wharf mall. He put in some bike lanes. But taxes have shot through the roof. It's awful. I have been threatening to move for years because of this and I finally found a home outside New Haven. I'm outta here at the end of next month.

The mayor and the board of aldermen have to realize that New Haven competes with other towns for homebuyers and businesses. If our rates are sky-high and surrounding towns aren't, then why would people or businesses move here? Lower crime? No. Better schools? No. Lots of activity? That's all still accessible from the burbs.

I'm sad to leave, but what can I say? I simply can't justify staying.

Posted by: Cedar Hill Resident | February 6, 2007 9:07 AM

Bruce sorry you have to move...

I am still hanging on to the thought it is darkest before the dawn!? I really hope we are going through a rebuilding period. As we all know many mistakes have been made in this city. We trusted people to do there jobs right? And now we are paying the price. But it can be fixed. Taxes can be lowered. Not at this moment but I would like to hope that it is in the future. I also believe that this city is entitled to a lot more federal money and we are not going after it. I think the people down at town hall need to get more qualifed people to go after those smaller moneys out there as well as the bigger ones because it all adds up.

But Bruce you have to say some big steps have been taken well... since our lovely major stop working on his governor campaign on our time. Hey question did we pay him for the city time he used to campaign for governor?? Hmmmm seriously!

I am with Chan on the fact that the outreach program needs to be bigger! that is not enough to handle what we the little people see everyday. but it is a start.

Posted by: why not | February 6, 2007 11:17 AM

It is a good thing not to drive the elderly out, but by simply deferring the tax, where is the money going to come from?

Wait until the budget is unveiled. Taxes are going to be very high. At least all the Mayor gov campaign staff and big contributors got their breaks. Now John please leave us alone and let someone who cares take over as mayor and fix your mess. If you think West Haven had a mess, wait until March madness when the budget hits. The BOA will have to cut hundreds of jobs. I hear the tha hole in the budget is approaching $30,000,000 over last year. I sure hope people show up at those hearings

Posted by: DeloresMariconde | February 7, 2007 7:27 PM

John DeStefano should reimburse the City for the past three years he collected a full time mayor's salary whil running for govornor.

Perhaps a few jobs could be saved.

We need to enact legislation prohibiting incumbent politicians from seeking higher office and impose a mandatory leave of absence.

Posted by: DeloresMariconde | February 7, 2007 7:27 PM

John DeStefano should reimburse the City for the past three years he collected a full time mayor's salary whil running for govornor.

Perhaps a few jobs could be saved.

We need to enact legislation prohibiting incumbent politicians from seeking higher office and impose a mandatory leave of absence.

Sorry, Comments are closed for this entry

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