Council Corner - Senior Property Tax Assistance Deferral Pilot Program

Monday, March 28th, the Town Council will discuss a new Senior Property Tax Assistance Deferral Pilot Program. This program would allow income qualifying Cumberland residents, aged 70 and older, to defer the payment of incremental property tax increases. This would effectively freeze their property taxes at current levels, until certain triggering events occur. This program would be in addition to the current Senior Property Tax Assistance Rebate Program and would run as a pilot program to allow the town to gauge interest from qualified residents and work through the administrative complexities and costs.

The Council has been working on this program for seven months, coming out of the priority workshops held last summer. This program would align with two of the focus areas of the Council work plan – Tax Assistance Programs and Senior Aging in Place. Cumberland would be one of the first towns in the State of Maine to offer this type of tax assistance program. However, because this proposal has not been attempted by other municipalities, there certain aspects of the State of Maine statutes that do not account for incremental tax deferrals. The Council will continue to work at a State and local level and will share updates about the proposed program, as available.

To learn more, please join us at the Town Council meeting or watch it here.