To the editor:

Certainly there are some very low income seniors that require special property tax exemption consideration. However, for the rest of us, the proposed changes in the exemption are nothing but a burden.  

The current system is simple and gives us $368 annually. Under the proposed changes, that money is redistributed among us based upon our income. This change is invasive, cumbersome and costly. If the President of the United States does not have to release his tax returns to anyone, why should our senior citizens have to disclose their income to the Barrington assessor? 

In addition, every year we will be required to fill out an application to be reviewed by the assessor's office. This will be an added burden on them also. Will the town have to hire more personnel to collect, review and rule on about 1,500 applications every year? "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

More importantly, any change should not be "revenue neutral" and should address the fundamental problem.

The property tax inequity is not among senior citizens. The inequity is between the senior citizens who have been here for a long time and those citizens who come here just to educate their children. 

Based upon federal census data, a household with children in the Barrington public schools costs the town an average of about $27,000 annually. A household without children costs the town about $3,000. In most cases, senior citizen households have not included children for many years. Senior citizens are willing to continue to support education, but most must do it with a fixed income. 

Is it fair that long standing residents with no school age children and a fixed income should continue to pay the same amount as everyone else? 

Except for the special very low income cases, the senior tax exemption should be substantially greater and based upon years of residency. Since that information is available to the Assessor, no annual application would be required to implement a simple, fair exemption.

Peter Clifford

Adelaide Clifford

Barrington