Elderly Forced to Work to Pay Off Property Taxes
By admin on Dec 26, 2007 in Money
I find a story coming out of Greenburgh, N.Y. very disturbing.
Not only are some seniors citizens there having to do a reverse mortgage to pay their bills, but now aging people are having to work for the city in order to receive property tax discounts.
Greenburgh’s program lets seniors work starting at $7 per hour to help pay off their property taxes.
Why $7 per hour? I know of some illegal immigrants who get $8 just for showing up.
These aging seniors are located in Westchester County, which rates #3 in the nation for highest property taxes. But has the whole concept of property taxes gone much too far? Should we reconsider max- taxing our elderly?
Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s great for aging seniors to work. In fact, I highly recommend it. Once many older people stop working, they lose a lot of their interests. But I think work at older ages should be purely voluntary and enjoyable. In other words they work if they want to and they get paid well if they want to receive money for their labors.
What I find dishearting is the example of Audrey Davison, 76, who lives alone, gets paid $620 in Social Security each month, and has to take a job as a receptionist for the city mainly for the purpose of paying off her property taxes. And that’s when she can work on her good days. Audrey suffers from arthritis and sciatica and has to have a walker.
The city’s point of view is these aging seniors would be forced to move out if they can’t pay their taxes. So instead of giving them a tax break they give them a job.
Something’s not right with that.
What do you think?
Read Plan Would Let Seniors Work to Pay Taxes
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Tags: Money
4 Comment(s)
By Ann Onimous on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
I was aghast while reading that story. Those are slave labor wages. Also, what doctor-lawyer-accountant is going to work for $7 an hour to pay off their taxes? Answer: none of them! They’re just going to pay out of their retirement portfolios.
By Nan on Dec 26, 2007 | Reply
$7/hour? I have to say that I cannot hire an illegal immigrant to work for less than $15/hour in Arizona. In addition, these seniors probably have 40-50 years of experience and they are forced to work for less than slave wages. The imbalance that continues increasing between the “haves” and the “have-nots” can lead to nothing good for our country.
By james norman on Dec 31, 2007 | Reply
Why is no one talking about tax rates being too high as it is? Why sit down and take this crap. If this was my mother or father and the city was pushing them out the door because of taxes I would have some choice words for that city.
Time to take back our nation. This is not a free country any more. its only left for the rich or the Left wing.
By John on Jan 1, 2008 | Reply
Why isn’t there any leadership with patriotic values in this nation anymore? Correct the damn unrealistic property values, bring taxes in line, give retired seniors a break in proportion to their income. Forcing retirees to work off taxes, 50 year mortgages? The laws of economics, supply and demand must be forced to apply to this phony real estate market sooner or later. The success of capitalism and our nations economy depend on it. The wealthy bankers and developers have had there payday, now do what’s right.