Senator Sam Caligiuri (R-16) said he is looking forward to working with the General Assembly to secure final legislative approval of an initiative to expand the local property tax freeze program for senior citizens and require the state to reimburse participating municipalities for the lost revenues.

The legislation, HB 5342, An Act Concerning The Elderly Tax Freeze Program, was approved yesterday by the Select Committee on Aging and is now subject to further consideration by the legislature’s Finance, Revenue & Bonding Committee before it can be placed before the full General Assembly.

“This bill is similar to legislation I proposed earlier this year, and I am very pleased to have been able to play a role as ranking member of the Select Committee on Aging in crafting what we approved yesterday,” said Senator Caligiuri.

The bill was drafted by the Aging Committee’s leadership consisting of Senator Caligiuri, Senate Ranking Member; Senator Paul Doyle, Democrat Co-Chair; Representative Joseph Serra, Democrat Co-Chair; Senator Edith Prague, Democrat Vice-Chair; and Representative Al Adinolfi, House Republican Ranking Member. The original language of the bill was replaced by the language drafted by the committee’s leadership.

“I was proud to be a part of a process in which people put their party differences to the side to craft something that is good for our seniors,” said Senator Caligiuri.

“The obligation to pay property taxes is a heavy burden for everyone, but particularly for senior citizens who may be living on fixed incomes. Our existing elderly property tax freeze program does not help enough people, and has the unfortunate effect of pitting those who benefit against younger taxpayers who are forced to pay more in property taxes so that their elderly neighbors can pay less. For that reason, at least some municipalities are reluctant to participate in the existing program. If the legislature passes this bill, more senior citizens would qualify for a tax freeze and their younger neighbors would not have to pay higher property tax bills to cover the cost,” said Senator Caligiuri.

Specifically, the proposed legislation calls for increasing annual income eligibility limits (which presently mirror income eligibility limits for the state’s Circuit Breaker program, $27,700 for individuals and $33,900 for married couples) to $33,800 for eligible individuals and to $40,300 for eligible couples. Eligible individuals must be at least 70-years old, and surviving spouses at least 62-years old. Income eligibility requirements would be adjusted annually for inflation. The state would be required to reimburse municipalities for all of the revenues lost as a result of granting the tax freeze to eligible senior citizens.

Municipalities would have the option of expanding the elderly tax freeze program beyond the eligibility limits established under the bill, but the state would not be responsible for reimbursing municipalities for those additional lost revenues.

“As I have said before, I believe it makes sense to require the state to bear the cost of an elderly property tax freeze program because state mandates on municipalities, along with the state’s failure to fully fund its ongoing obligations to municipalities, are at least partially responsible for high local property taxes,” said Senator Caligiuri, adding that municipalities would continue to have the option of participating, or not, under the proposed legislation just as they do under the state’s existing local property tax program.