By Darrell Halen
Staff Writer

Because Windham’s elderly residents are expected to be hit hard in the pocketbook when they receive their property tax bills this fall, selectmen are hoping to come up with a way to help them.

Due to a revaluation this year, property values are increasing 40 percent on average.

Last year, voters increased exemptions for the elderly and the disabled. Officials sought those higher exemptions in light of the revaluation to help them.

But while warrant articles to modify exemptions passed, a separate warrant article to fund a revaluation was defeated in 2005. The revaluation was approved this year.

Officials are concerned because new exemptions don’t keep pace with new values for the elderly this year, effectively lowering their exemptions.

That has selectmen thinking about how they can ease the burden.

“We have long-term residents in this town. I think we have a duty and a responsibility to them,” said selectman Galen Stearn at the board’s Sept. 25 meeting. “If we can do something to help them, especially seeing how this is going to be a larger hit than everyone else is given, I’d like to do whatever we can to do that.”

Voters in 2005 raised exemptions to $125,000 for seniors 65 to 74 and to $150,000 for seniors 75 to 80 for those who qualify for the break.

Older seniors are totally exempt if they qualify. Disabled who meet certain criteria have a $125,000 exemption.

The current tax rate is $19.46 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation. Assessor Rex Norman is predicting a tax rate of approximately $16 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation when it’s set this fall.

The average taxpayer — an owner of a $400,000 house — will see an increase of $800 to $1,000.

“This year, the elderly will be hit probably the hardest,” Norman said.

Town and school district spending is up more than $4 million, including roughly $2.6 million in bond costs for the town’s new high school.

Selectmen may decide to help 74 elderly and disabled homeowners by lowering their values through an abatement process. The move would shift roughly $30,000 onto other taxpayers to absorb.