Dear Editor:

Property taxes are an unfair tax. It is a wealth tax on unrealized gains driven by inflation and is especially unfair to the elderly.  It is tragic when the family home is lost because of taxes.  In many cases the owner is retired, on a fixed income and poor, the kids are gone, and often it is a widow, left with only the home and its memories. It is a sad day when she is forced out. It shouldn’t be this way.

Several years ago, a bill was approved with Republican support that froze taxes for the elderly.  When the bill passed, I was thrilled, not just because I would benefit, but because I felt it righted an egregious wrong that we do to older people – forcing them out of their homes. The bill protected us from bad policy and decisions at the federal and state level. There are tremendous costs and risks associated with Maine’s immigration policy and run-away spending in Augusta. Headlines last week noted close to a billion-dollar state budget shortfall.

Democrats recently changed two laws, one protecting seniors and another capping property tax increases. I don’t expect this Democratic legislature to cut spending. Hard working Mainers and our already struggling business will be handed the bill. There is a Democratic claim that the senior tax freeze had been replaced by other programs.  I didn’t see any evidence of that when I opened my tax bill, just a significant increase. A good bill was “replaced” with smoke and mirrors where the state puts a lien on the home and charges interest at ½% more than that for delinquent taxes. Payment is due 45 days after the notice when the owner departs. This is a complicated process that may put the heirs at financial risk. Lincoln County Republican candidates, Dale Harmon, J.W. Bill Hunt, Ed Polewarczyk, Mary Lou Daxland, and Abden Simmons, pledge that, if elected, they will support a bill to reinstate a freeze. It is the right thing to do. They all deserve your vote.

Joe Grant

Wiscasset