Rules for Senior Work Off Program Change

Groton Senior Work Off Program will have some significant changes this year including an increase in the amount of reduction in property tax, an increase in the amount of hours required to earn this benefit, filing Federal income taxes by participants on the earned income, strict income eligibility requirements and reduction in number of seniors that will be able to participate in the program.

Selectmen, who are ultimately responsible for all components of the program, voted to increase the amount of money to reduce taxes from $500 to $700; to increase the number of hours that seniors must work to 87.5 for that benefit (based on the hourly minimum wage); to deduct Federal Medicare tax (1.45%) and OBRA (7.5%) from the earned $700, (participants will have to report the $700 on their tax return as Federally taxable income); to verify income not to exceed $65K for eligibility for a single homeowner and $75K for a married couple.

The number of participants is now set at 30, with the option to review this number if there are more income qualified applicants. Cost for the Senior Work Off Program will be $21K. The benefit to seniors is 10.5 percent reduction on the average tax bill.

Noting that the "income limitations are quite generous," Town Accountant Patricia Dufresne said, in the past, when the original 40 slots did not get filled by seniors that met the income requirements, they would open the remaining unfilled slots to others who had higher incomes. Last year, there were 36 applicants, with five or six of them over the income limitation.

She added that many of the town's clerical needs have been outsourced, requiring more current skills for seniors to meet the needs of the town. In general, she said, these are not 'make work' jobs and that many of the applicants were formerly in jobs that had broader skills. "We have some talented managers who want to do real work," she said.

Dufresne noted that the new requirement that applicants must claim the work on their Federal income taxes "made the program aggravating" to some seniors. Using a notice in Groton Electric Light Department bills and their previous list of participants, Dufresne said that they received only 13 calls, and she anticipates a drop out of nine or 10 when the applications are received.

Selectman Chairman Peter Cunningham asked if there were job descriptions from town departments that outline duties of the job and Dufresne said there were. Assessor Rena Swezey noted that income limits are based on HUD guidelines but these can always be adjusted by Selectmen.

"The applications come into my office (for verification) and we sign off on them. There are five or six each year that are over the income levels," Swezey said suggesting that the Board drop the number of participants a little and go up on the benefit. "Going above the income limit is not fair and we need to adhere to that [limit]," she added.

Selectman Josh Degen said he "went through the worksheet prepared by Dufresne and felt that the rationale was good," pointing out that if 36 seniors qualified, it would raise the cost of the program to $25K, and stressed that participation be based on the income limitation. Colleague Jack Petropoulos wanted to see a distribution of participants based on the HUD guidelines and see where they fall, and that if there is any increase to show the worth of the work.

Cunningham recommended that he would support more limited participation, with 30 seniors (based on income) to be eligible for a $700 reduction on their property tax bill and $21K set aside for this program. He added that the program was intended to help out property owning senior residents based on the greatest need. Degen added,

"This program was not developed for people over the income limit. I support Peter. Anyone who exceeds the HUD [income] amounts is not included."