FeedsElderly, disabled can defer taxes this year
Older and disabled residents may get a temporary reprieve on their summer and winter property taxes this year under a plan voluntarily put into place by the City of Romulus.
Homeowners meeting certain criteria may defer their summer and winter taxes without incurring costly penalties and interest until Feb. 28, 2007. The plan was also put into place last year, and helped a lot of seniors struggling with increased costs for gas, utilities and other expenses, officials said.
Romulus City Council members agreed at their Monday night meeting to adopt a resolution to allow the deferment program to move forward.
Pamela Morrison-Kersey, the city treasurer, said many people have told her they’re having some difficulty making tax payments.
“I had someone walk up to me last night to tell me that they have a mobile home that they’re paying storage on, and that they’re having a hard time paying for gas,” she said. “His income is $29,000, and he’s never taken advantage of a deferment before. I told him, ‘Now, you’re qualified’.”
The deferment program is made possible by the Michigan Compiled Law and General Property Act 211.53, which gives individual municipalities the ability to offer extensions in certain situations. The income level for participants used to be $25,000, but that was raised to $35,000 last year, Kersey said.
The criteria for deferring property taxes are:
The taxpayer must be 62 years old or older, including the unmarried surviving spouse of a person who was 62 years old at the time of his or her death;
Be paraplegic or quadriplegic;
An eligible serviceman or woman, eligible veteran, eligible widow or widower of a veteran;
Be totally and permanently disabled;
Have a household income that does not exceed $35,000.
Because of the state of the economy, Kersey said she expects more seniors will defer their property taxes.
“People are having a difficult time right now,” she said. “This is especially true for senior citizens on a fixed income. Many of them qualify for this – and we try to do everything we can to make sure we help out our seniors.”
The best things about the program is that there are no penalties on summer taxes until after Feb. 28, and a two-week grace period for winter taxes, Kersey said.
For other taxpayers, there are no special programs, but Kersey said she’s surprised at an increase in payments in 2006.
“We seemed to have more taxpayers on our reports as delinquent when we did our end-of-the-year report last year,” she said. “People are really catching up this year. The flow has been very good.”
According to state statistics, Wayne County has the highest numbers of foreclosures in Michigan. Kersey was not able to immediately say how many delinquent taxpayers there are in the City of Romulus.
Applications for the program must be filed at the treasurer’s office no later than Sept. 30. Applications can be obtained at the treasurer’s office on the first floor of city hall until 6 p.m.
Romulus City Hall is located at 11111 Wayne Road. For more information about deferring taxes, call Kersey’s office at (734) 942-7580.
