Barrington resident Neil Severance has serious concerns about the town's recent request for senior residents' income information. 

He said the town's letter sent to residents in late September failed to include important details, such as what Barrington officials plan to do with residents' income information after it is used to establish the tax exemption plan. 

"This is shoddy," he said. "They're not telling us where the information will be kept or how it is going to be analyzed… They don't have this (plan) put together."

Mr. Severance said the potential change in the senior tax exemption seems to have been pushed through too quickly and without proper consideration. He said the plans' flaws are also reflected, if not amplified, by the tax assessor's letter to senior residents.

"I am surprised and annoyed and disgusted with the lack of professionalism shown in that letter," he said. "It's definitely arrogant."

The letter Mr. Severance is angry with, references the Sept. 11 town council meeting, during which councilors voted 5-0 to change the filing deadline for the "over-65" exemption. "In order to verify your income, you must provide your prior year's tax return or similar verifiable documentation of your income (such as a statement of Social Security benefits)."

Mr. Severance said he had no prior knowledge of the potential change in the senior tax exemption. 

"It came out of the blue," he said. 

The Riverview Drive resident said it was not clear whether he would even be eligible to receive the exemption. As a part-time Barrington resident, he may not live in town for the requisite 183 days each year. 

"But we're saving them money," he said, adding that they provide no need for town services while they are living outside of the state.

Mr. Severance is not the only resident to publicly voice his contempt for the senior tax exemption change. Longtime resident Peter Clifford penned a letter to the editor this week, calling the change "invasive, cumbersome and costly." He also said that senior households place a lesser strain on town finances.

"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," he wrote.

Mr. Clifford said the town would be wiser to establish an exemption based on years of residency, not income.

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