Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 26, 1995 TAG: 9504260101
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
This year, the federal agency granted him a $15-a-month increase. Next year, Damus may get another.
Surprisingly, that prospect frightens him.
An extra few dollars a month would push the retired insurance agent above the maximum allowed income in a city program that freezes property taxes for eligible senior citizens and disabled people.
If Damus' income exceeds $24,000, he'll have to pay the full property taxes on his quickly appreciating home in Deyerle. That will cost him hundreds of dollars a year, he said.
``When you reach the point where you exceed $24,000 by $1, you will never recover,'' he said.
City Council may be about to come to his rescue.
After prodding from Vice Mayor John Edwards, City Manager Bob Herbert has recommended that council raise the income limit from $24,000 to $26,000 beginning July 1, 1996.
Edwards, a Democrat running for the state Senate this year against Republican incumbent Brandon Bell, said he wants the income limit pushed to $30,000 over the next three years, the maximum allowed under state law.
The last time council raised the program's income limit was in 1993, when it was bumped from $22,000 to $24,000.
Almost 2,000 seniors and 288 disabled homeowners in the city are participating in the program this year, Commissioner of the Revenue Marsha Compton Fielder said. City Finance Director Jim Grisso said they collectively saved $300,000 this year.
The 1990 census lists 8,130 owner-occupied homes in Roanoke belonging to residents ages 65 and older, but does not specify how many of those fall under the income limit.
To qualify for a property tax freeze, taxpayers must be over age 64 or totally disabled. They also must have a net worth of less than $75,000, excluding the value of their house. Benefits aren't automatic, but must be applied for through the commissioner of the revenue. The deadline to apply for next year is June 30.
Edwards stands to gain politically from his move to boost the limit. Roanoke has a lot of senior citizens, and many of them vote. Beyond that, his reasoning is twofold.
First, Roanoke County and Salem already are at the maximum level allowed by the state, and raising the limit ``restores some degree of equity between the city of Roanoke and those jurisdictions,'' he noted.
Also, the income limit contains no adjustment for inflation. Thus, a small increase in Social Security checks could push seniors out of eligibility, as Damus fears.
``The idea is that the elderly [and the disabled] are often on fixed incomes, and they're getting squeezed when real estate taxes increase,'' Edwards said.
The program will be the subject of a City Council public hearing Monday at 7 p.m. in the Roanoke Civic Center Exhibit Hall. Damus said he'll be there to testify in support of the proposal. Thus far, there has been no open opposition.
However, not every member of City Council is enthralled with the idea.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles said she's a bit uncomfortable about singling out a segment of citizens for a ``special break that you don't give the others.''
``I've had some calls from young families, who have children in school,'' she said. ``They earn less than $24,000, they own their own home, and they have less than $75,000 in the bank. There is no freeze on their taxes.''
``I'm a senior citizen myself,'' Bowles said. ``I just think that sometimes we bend over backwards for them.''
Edwards said he sympathizes with young, struggling families also.
But ``younger people have more opportunity for their incomes to increase over time,'' he said. ``Seniors on fixed incomes have less.''
by CNB