Senior Citizen Tax Workoff Program Policy

For Implementation June 11, 2003

Having passed Article 12 of the Annual Town Meeting Warrant on April 8, 2003, by which the Town of West Tisbury adopted the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 59 Section 5K, as amended, the policy for implementation of the West Tisbury Senior Citizen Tax Workoff Program is issued by the Board of Selectmen as follows:

1.     Any full-time, year-round-resident homeowner who is at least sixty (60) years old and a resident of West Tisbury may receive on a home that she/he owns and occupies in West Tisbury a "Senior Citizen Property Tax Workoff Abatement" not to exceed seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00) in any fiscal year.

2.     The program shall be coordinated through the Selectmen's office, which shall oversee the program. The program will be administered through the coordinated efforts of the Council on Aging, the Board of Assessors, the Tax Collector and the participating Town departments).                                                              .

3.     The program intake shall be administered by the Council on Aging, which shall oversee the following:

(a)    the documentation of year-round Town residency;

(b)    the documentation of allowable annual income;

(c)     the signing of an Affidavit by the applicant attesting to his/her qualifications for the program;

(d)    the signing of a Participation Agreement under which the applicant agrees to adhere to the policies of the program;

(e)    the determination of the skills and assignment preferences of the applicant; and

(f)     the recommendation to the Board of Selectmen for the assignment of the applicant to a Town department.

4.     The allowable annual income for applicants shall be Thirty-Four Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($34,200) for a one-member household and Thirty-Nine Thousand One Hundred Dollars ($39,100) for a two-member household, said allowable annual income to be adjusted annually on the first day of January according to the "Low-Income" qualifications issued by the Federal Housing and Urban Development Department.