County OKs seniors property tax exemption hike, rejects higher level
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MAYVILLE - County lawmakers have agreed to increase the income level by $1,000 to get a real property tax break for low income seniors.
An attempt to increase that level was rejected by Republicans.
During the Chautauqua County Legislature meeting, officials approved a resolution to increase the Senior Citizen Homeowners’ Partial Real Property Tax Exemption from $32,000 to $33,000.
Before the vote, Legislator Sandra Lewis, D-Fredonia, said she heard from the Office of the Aging that the average income level for seniors was $38,000. "I don't think it will pass if we move it from ($32,000) to $38,000 so I would like to split it in the middle and suggest that we split the income level to $35,000," she said.
But Legislator Bob Scudder, R-Fredonia, opposed the change.
"Some work went into our $1,000 increase from talking to Real Property (officials) to talking to assessors. There's a whole lot more work that goes into this than just picking a number and raising it," he said.
The sponsors of the resolution were Legislators Marcus Buchanan, D-Dunkirk and Tom Nelson, D-Jamestown. Originally they had proposed an annual increase based on the Cost Of Living Assistance. Department heads warned that may be too complex to calculate in time for local assessors.
There had been talk in committee about doing a $1,000 increase for the next three or four years, however Legislator Dalton Anthony, R-Frewsburg, argued against that, saying that any exemption just shifts the cost from seniors to the rest of the county property taxpayers.
Buchanan agreed in committee to to increase the exemption, which would start in March, to $33,000.
During the full legislature meeting, Buchanan seemed reluctant to support Lewis' amendment.
"This is a tough one here with the amendment. I'm going to vote yes, but I'm not going to be mad if it's a no," he said.
When the time came to vote, Buchanan, Nelson, Lewis and Democratic Legislators Bob Whitney and Fred Larson, both of Jamestown, voted in favor. The remaining 11 Republican legislators all voted no.
Once the original resolution to increase the property tax exemption by $1,000 returned, it was unanimously approved.
Afterward, Buchanan provided a statement as to why he wanted the increase.
"One of the things I care deeply about as a county legislator is making sure our seniors are not forgotten. They have spent their lives working, paying taxes, raising families and helping build the communities we live in today. I believe we have a responsibility to look out for them," he said. "… They spend their lives building this community. We should do everything we reasonably can to help them stay in it. This is personal to me because I truly believe our seniors deserve our respect, our attention and our support."
The legislature had increased the Real Property Tax Exemption from $30,000 to $32,000 in February.