Letter to the editor: Property tax thwarts homeowners' plans

My wife and I have reached the point in our lives where the kids are gone and our older home and land require more work than we’re able/willing to do, so we are attempting to downsize to a smaller property.

Unfortunately, a prohibiting factor is the high property tax on relatively newer homes that in most cases is two to three times our current tax rate and increasing every year. Most older homes in our price range with comparable taxes to what we currently pay require significant upgrades. We’ve considered subdividing a portion of our land and building a smaller home, but have been informed by township officials that there is no way to predict the future tax levy.

So, what do we do on our fixed income? We’d like to stay where we are, but the reality of physical limitations is an overriding concern. Should we purchase a smaller property with higher taxes and hope we can make future payments? Purchase and renovate a property, or build and hope we can handle the new tax? Or, do we leave family and friends and move to a more tax-friendly state?

We’d prefer to see the Legislature and governor gather the political will to address the property tax issue to the benefit of our senior citizens. No more empty promises like gambling revenue being used to reduce property taxes. Many seniors on fixed incomes are having to make decisions between eating, health care and paying property taxes. Now is the time to address it.

Richard Herd

Hempfield