The city is working to restart a program that allows some seniors to reduce their property tax bills by volunteering within the city.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno’s spokesman, William Baker, said the city had halted development of the Senior Property Tax Relief Program, sponsored by Rep. Orlando Ramos, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 19. But now the program is being revamped and will be overseen by the Springfield Department of Health and Human Services and the office of the advisory board.
Attempts to contact Helen Caulton-Harris, commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, were unsuccessful.
This local program was established by the City Council in 2019 after the state authorized communities to run such programs in 2002. At the time, the program, which was scheduled to begin in the summer of 2020, would have allowed 20 residents Springfield residents age 60 and older will cut up to $1,000 off their property tax bills as volunteers.
Baker’s comments come after Juan F. Latorre III, a candidate running for an at-large City Council seat, called on the city to implement the program.
Latorre said the city’s seniors face rising inflation and property tax bills, but many of them don’t qualify for many programs that would provide relief. However, the tax break program would be available to all older residents, he said, and they could volunteer to garden in parks or work as substitute teachers in schools, for example.
“We will provide our older adults, who spent much of the pandemic in isolation, the opportunity to regain independence and socialization in their lives,” Latorre said. “City operations will benefit from the diversity of experiences and skills that our seniors can bring, which will improve the productivity of the City.”
Latorre lives in the Sixteen Acres neighborhood and is currently a member of the Executive Board of the Western Massachusetts Council of the Boy Scouts of America and is the Chairman of the Springfield Restaurant Week Committee.
Also, he is an engineer in the telecommunications industry, and this is the second time he has run for a position as city councilor at large.
In response to Latorre’s press release, City Council Speaker Jesse Lederman, who is running for mayor, said he was proud to join his colleagues on the City Council in supporting, creating and authorizing the Tax Cut Program for Senior Citizens when he chaired the Health and Human Services Committee.
“The responsibility for implementing the program rests with the mayor’s administration,” Lederman said in a statement. “I continue to support the initiative and encourage the mayor’s administration to go ahead and do their part to ensure its implementation.”
Translated by Damaris Pérez-Pizarro
