City Council Passes Elderly Tax Exemption Update
Supplemental tax, vote on allowing back yard chickens, pitbull regulations tabled.
Photos
The City Council approved hiking the elderly tax exemption Monday night from $2,000 to $12,000, meant to bring it up to date with current incomes and changes to the homestead exemption.
According to the orignal proposal submitted by City Council President John Ward, to qualify, you've got to be 65 years old or older, have lived in the city for at least five years, and not make more than $30,000 (see the attached pdf).
Councilman Roger Jalette made a motion to switch the residency threshold from five years living in the city to three. Ward said he was comfortable with keeping it at five years, but asked if anyone wanted to entertain the motion.
Councilman Albert Brien seconded it, and then all the councilmen present, Christopher Beauchamp, Vice President Dan Gendron, Jalette and Brien voted for the change, and Ward added his own support to the motion, causing it to pass unanimously.
When he introduced the update to the exemption, Ward said the ordinance would help make up some of the ground older residents lose with the phase out of the homestead exemptions.
The council also tabled discussion on whether to lend their support to the enabling legislation allowing the Budget Commission to issue a supplemental tax bill, including a combination of a reduction of the homestead exemption and a supplemental car tax.
Jalette said he wouldn't support any new tax on Woonsocket citizens. "I for one can't afford it and I am part of the majority of the city of Woonsocket," he said.
Beauchamp, Gendron and Brien all said they'd prefer adding language to it saying it was contingent on the other elements of the Budget Commissions plan coming to fruition.
Ward said the General Assembly was unlikely to look on the enabling legislation favorably with that condition written in. Mayor Leo Fontaine said Budget Commission Chairman Bill Sequino would likely refuse to go forward with the supplental tax if the other parts of the Budget Commission plan don't work out. In fact, Sequino, City Finance Director Thomas Bruce and RI Director of Revenue Rosemary Booth Gallogly have all said the most likely step if any of the parts of the Budget Commssion plan don't pan out, would be to take the city straight into bankruptcy.
But the majority of council members were still wary of the possibility of a supplemental tax passing alone, and they tabled the matter for a indefinite time, allowing them to raise the question again at any future meeting.
The Council also tabled a vote on ammending the city's ordinance regulating animals to allow the keeping of chickens within city limits.
Monkeyshines
9:45 am on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!
5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation
la_mouffette
5:46 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Yes....
except we're not talking about a welfare state tactic in any ordinary sense of the term. This is a desperation measure.
We're talking about a moderate tax break for elderly people on very low, fixed incomes, who do not own other investment property,
people who worked hard all their lives, saved enough money to purchase a home and then invested in our city by buying it here, paid their fair share of taxes,
and who are now in danger of losing their homes to tax sale due to the fall-out of our fiscal crisis.
What would you prefer-- that Memere is kicked out of the home she worked for all her life?
or perhaps you'd like to see a 75 year old Pepere trying to carry boxes at CVS warehouse so he can pay the Supplemental Taxes on his home and his 89 corolla?
As the kids say,
"Go home, Ayn Rand, you're drunk!"
taxed2death
9:45 am on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
what joke just another way to stick to some of the elderly, they sould serve popcorn at thier meetings
Nelson Aldrich
9:45 am on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Don't let them scare you Rockets,there's no such thing as a real bankruptcy in RI anyway.
michael
5:46 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
I've been saying this for awhile now.no matter what we say or do It's not going to change anything!!!! This bugdet commission has been handed to us for who knows why? I remember last year when our elected officials said that at the time when centralfalls was going threw their problems with money, that quote ( not to worry that will never happen to this city.quote)??? Because some genius forgot to ask the 10million dollar question ( how is our bugdet doing by that time damage has already been done!!!! So who do we hold accountable for that one??? Ohhh the tax payers!!! :( so citizens of woonsocket wake up and realize that we are being prosecuted for somebodys grave mistake,I feel that the citizens of woonsocket should have some say in how this city should be ran!!!! So far we and the city hall have no say, this city is now being ran by the enemy,because no matter what the bugdet commission does It's not going to affect them at all.they are setting this city up for the down fall. Were either going to sit there and watch it happen or we can get up and at least try!!!!!!they can't take that from us.
michael
2:33 am on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
So if the bugdet commission is running things now,why does the city hall still remain running, because they are pretty much working for the bugdet commission and not for us citizens. Think about it,that's a pretty big over head for the bugdet commission??? They now work for the bugdet commission and not us!!!!!! Take a good look around and see that their is a lot of nothing going on!!!! I bet you that the real reason on the night of the blizzard when theyclaimed that our whole department of public works trucks were broke down!!! That's bull!! Their was probably no money to pay for the snow removal!!!! Again I think we were not told the truth!!!!! Like I said before this is just the tip of this collapsing iceburge!!!!I wish I could stare this city back on course, I may not have bachelors degrees but the one thing I have more of is commonsense!!!!! God help us,please!!!!!!!
michael
2:33 am on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
SOS,SOS,SOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alicia Mello
5:55 am on Thursday, March 7, 2013
This city is falling apart
la_mouffette
9:05 am on Friday, March 8, 2013
Ain't it the truth.
I love this city, it's my hometown.
When I walk down the street or go to the store, I meet people I've known my whole life-- even people whose great-grandparents knew my great-grandparents!
But, if things get much worse, we might have to leave to survive economically.
It's depressing.