THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Monday, December 11, 1995              TAG: 9512090018
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   29 lines

DON'T TAX ELDERLY

Homeowners, after years of carrying the brunt of all tax hikes, finally after 25 to 50 years pay off their own mortgage. You'd think that these owners, who now are old and retired, would get a tax break. Not so.

When I bought my house in 1966, the payments were $119 a month. The mortgage then included taxes and insurance.

Now I pay $750 every six months in taxes alone. I have a friend who is 52 years old, and his taxes just went up to $500 every six months.

I had a nice letter from our mayor saying ``homeowners do get a break if they don't make over $22,000 a year. She's speaking of homeowners in general; I'm speaking of homeowners who have paid off their mortgage. I don't care what their yearly income is.

I don't care if they're rich or poor, after spending half their lives paying off a mortgage, they, not the tax collector, should own that home.

LESTER PRATHER

Virginia Beach, Nov. 29, 1995 by CNB