If I read today’s West Hartford News correctly, and sometimes it’s not easy, the town council this week adopted the property tax freeze for 500 or so allegedly low income seniors. The lost tax revenue is supposed to be made up from a grant, the source of which is entirely unspecified. There’s no indication whether there’s an asset test involved or if this is a giveaway to rich seniors who don’t have much income. But I’ll give the weekly this: at least it mentioned it. The Courant didn’t tell us squat.
We deserve a lot better than this from our town officials, who have a duty to inform us of what they’re doing, and from the reporters who supposedly cover this town. This is a big, big deal that has been so ignored in the press that it’s seemingly slipped right through without anyone knowing anything about it.
It’s sad and infuriating.
As I’ve said before, I’m not against helping struggling seniors. But without an asset test, this is terrible policy and pure political pandering. It’s unfair to the vast mass of taxpayers.
The West Hartford Blog 