Senior Taxpayers

Need Help

The following letter to First Selectman Herb Rosenthal has been received for publication.

Dear Mr Rosenthal:

I’m writing to you in an attempt to plead the case of the senior citizens in Newtown which once again are crying out for help as witnessed by the recent turndown of the proposed town budget. Senior citizens and many folks on fixed incomes can no longer stand the continued and relentless increases in property taxes that are taking place in town, year after year. As these costs go up, along with other items of necessity such as gasoline and fuel prices, the available spending money of the pensioner goes down, hence the rejection of increased town budgets at the polls.

As you and others must be aware that there is a mass exodus of seniors taking place in Newtown as they are being forced to seek other locations that have lower property tax structures or better incentives for senior citizen tax relief. If I’m not mistaken, Newtown has not taken any sufficient action in this area for quite some time. Other towns have, even to the point of deferring tax increases for seniors until their houses are sold.

I really don’t have to point out that every time a three- and four-bedroom house is sold by a senior couple in town it will, in all probability, result in a purchase by a family with two or more children, hence a further burden on the school system. It would, therefore, seem to make sense to try and retain the existing senior couple as one means of controlling school growth and ultimately keeping school costs increases as low as possible. I’m sure there are many other ways that the seniors could be helped if the town government would just face up to this most humanitarian type problem.

I guess, Herb, what I’m asking for is some immediate action to be taken on this issue by the town so that we can reverse the flow of losing our long-term and valuable citizens. These are the folks who make and add creditably to a town and we must make an effort to keep them here, but we need tax relief to do it.

A Senior Citizen

Robert B. Shaw

10 Stone Fence Lane, Newtown April 26, 2006