EASTHAMPTON – Easthampton is now offering a Senior Tax Work-Off Program to help alleviate property tax stress among senior citizens living in the city.

According to the program’s guidelines, the purpose is to assist older adults living in the city with the payment of residential property tax bills while “acknowledging and affirming their skills and abilities and the community’s continuing need for their services.”

Brendan Rogers, the executive director for Easthampton’s Council on Aging, told Reminder Publishing that City Councilor JP Kwiecinski and council President Peg Conniff reached out to him shortly before the pandemic to establish a committee that would help develop a senior tax work-off program.

The committee began working on the program during the summertime in 2020 after COVID-19 stalled their work for the first few months prior.

“We had started touching base with other communities who had a senior tax work-off program in place,” said Rogers. “Through that research, we developed what you see today.”

For the Easthampton program specifically, there are several requirements for applicants looking to participate. For starters, the applicant must be a resident of Easthampton and over the age of 60. At the time of applying, the applicant must be an owner of record or at least the spouse of the owner of record. The owner must possess employable skills and must be the primary resident of the property for which abatement is being requested.

Additionally, the owner’s property tax payments must be current, and they must reach the eligibility requirements for annual gross income. The maximum annual gross income an individual can have is $57,190, while the maximum gross income for a couple to be eligible is $65,360. There are other requirements, as well.

“Obviously we’re watching the cost-of-living increase,” said Rogers. “We’re dealing with a population that has retirement income that does not match the cost-of-living around them.”

As a result, Rogers said that the city must do everything they can to provide some type of tax relief for senior residents, so they can properly age in place.

“As time is going on, people are struggling to take what they are getting in rental income, and then be able to pay off property taxes and all of the other expenses they have,” said Rogers. “I feel like [the work-off program] is going to at least alleviate some of those pressures.”

The program is a three-year pilot program that allows residents over the age of 60 to volunteer their time in city positions in exchange for these tax abatements. According to Rogers, this is a “win-win” because the city can offer up to $1,500 in tax credit per household, and the individual or household can give back to the community. The city may also avoid spending too much money on certain services because the work-off program covers those services.

“[The program] has very little impact to the overall taxpayers,” said Rogers, who added that the city got approval to allocate $18,000 for the program. Potentially, nine to 12 positions could be filled with volunteers in this pilot over the next three years.

According to Rogers, the pilot program lasts three years because the city wants to assess the value of the program throughout the community. The hope is that the program draws enough applicants for the city to receive more money to fill more positions. The three years also gives the city time to adjust and see what works and what does not work within the program.

There is no hard deadline for people to apply for the program, according to Rogers. “We want enough time for people to understand the program and to call with questions,” he said. Despite the lack of deadline, Rogers did add that if people were to apply after July 30, then the city will have to review the application a little more tediously since the positions for fiscal year 2022 (FY22) may already be filled by then.

“This is all new territory for us. We are open to placing people if we haven’t filled all of those positions by the time [the] end of July rolls around,” said Rogers.

For the FY22 tax bill, seniors who are eligible under this program may volunteer their time between July 1, 2021 and April 30, 2022 to receive tax abatements, according to the program document. Senior volunteers may receive a prorated amount of their abatement should they work fewer than the necessary hours to receive the full abatement.

According to Rogers, there are several different positions senior volunteers could be eligible for. One is a clerical position through the police department, while the Parks and Recreations Department has some custodial positions available for the eligible seniors. The Council on Aging also needs some custodial and receptionist positions filled through this program.

The city does not want people applying for only one position. They instead will interview the applicants and place them in the position that best suits them based on their personality and skillset.

For more information on eligibility and how to apply for this program, Easthampton residents should visit https://www.easthamptonma.gov/images/PDF/STWO_General_Information.pdf.