Due to the town’s senior tax exemption, Janet Brown said her in-laws, Randy and Janet Brown, had not needed to pay property taxes until they got their most-recent bill.

“To get a bill at all, it’s huge,” she said.

Peterborough’s current exemption amount varies based on the age of the applicant and the assessed property value. Between 65 and 74 years of age, the maximum property value to qualify is $80,000, and from 75 to 79 years of age, it’s $120,000. Once applicants are over 80, the figure is $160,000. Residents can only qualify if their income is less than $34,000 a year if single, $52,000 if married.

Brown’s in-laws, who are 89, have qualified for an exemption for years, and Randy said that they weren’t anticipating paying taxes at all, due to this precedent. However, he said they were blindsided when the town’s reassessment in the fall increased the worth of the property above the exemption’s limit. According to him, the assessed value of the property went up from $163,500 in 2020 to $227,000. 

“The increase in the value of the building and the land were enormous,” he said. “We weren’t expecting to have to pay $900 in taxes because of the new assessment.”

Randy said he and his wife are considering selling off as many belongings as possible to make their unexpected tax payment. 

Brown said she was concerned for the elderly population of the town, who may have similarly been caught by surprise. 

“Most of them don’t have that kind of money; otherwise they wouldn’t be getting the exemption,” she said. “To not increase the maximum property value when you increase the actual assessed value, seems unfair. It’s a tremendous burden on the elderly, who are already on a fixed income. They paid their dues for many years, the least we can do is review the maximum and increase the proportion at least somewhat.”

Brown is developing a petition warrant article to raise the maximum assessed value for the town’s elderly tax exemption, and during the Feb. 1 Select Board meeting, Chair Tyler Ward wanted to know more about how the figure could be changed and what they could do.

The exemption language was last revisited in 2019, when the maximum assessed value was raised as well as the income guidelines. 

“Peterborough is pretty highly ranked in terms of the amount that we offer,” said Town Administrator Nicole MacStay. “It’s certainly something that could be revisited.”

MacStay advocated against making quick changes, but rather for checking with the town’s contracted assessor, Marybeth Walker, for a recommendation on how the levels could be changed.

Brown’s petition to raise the maximum assessed value must be completed by March 8. She said she currently has about 10 of the 25 signatures necessary to petition the Select Board, and that those interested in signing should call her at 603-831-2711. 

Rindge article seeks to make exemption more restrictive

In Rindge, a petition article would go in the opposite direction to the Peterborough proposal, by making the requirements more-stringent for the town’s elderly tax exemption.

The proposal would decrease the income limit for the disabled and elderly exemption to $25,000 for a single person and $35,000 for a married couple and reduce the asset limit – which excludes the value of a person’s home – to $75,000 for a single person or $100,000 for a married couple.

Currently, the income limits are $35,000 for single people and $49,000 for married couples, and the asset limit is $150,000.

For those who qualify, the town reduces their taxed assessed value by $100,000 until the age of 74, $140,000 until age 79 and $200,000 for those over 80. In 2020, Rindge offered $248,000 in tax exemptions.

The petition was brought by Roberta Oeser, and is identical to one offered last year by the town’s Select Board, which Oeser was a member of at the time.

Following last year’s deliberative session, the article was amended to study the issue in a committee. Oeser was a member of the committee, but submitted the petition article as a citizen, not a representative of the committee, which chose not to put forth any official changes to the senior exemption this year.

The committee is still studying the issue, and concluded the town needed to do a comprehensive look at all the senior exemptions to ensure everyone enrolled qualified before making any changes.

Oeser said Rindge’s exemption was the most-permissive in the region.

“I qualify for this exemption, but I shouldn’t,” Oeser said during Rindge’s deliberative session Saturday. “We need to make it a little harder to qualify.”

Oeser said her proposal still protected the elderly and needy, while being more in line with surrounding communities.

Dan Whitney, who chaired the study committee on the elderly tax exemption this past year, asked residents for more time on the issue.

“I’m going to ask when the time comes, you don’t vote for this,” Whitney said Saturday. “We haven’t done our due diligence. Let’s do it once, and do it right.”

Wilton seeks to add disabled property tax exemption

In Wilton, this year’s warrant includes a new property tax exemption for the disabled. Wilton already has property tax exemptions for seniors, the blind and for veterans and disabled veterans.

The new exemption would provide exemptions on up to $30,000 of property value for qualifying residents. To qualify, a person must have been a New Hampshire resident for at least five years, own or have been married to the property’s owner for five years and have an income of $35,000 for an individual or $45,000 for a married couple. Their net assets cannot exceed $70,000.