10-24-05 Regular Meeting of Fiscal Affairs Committee Minutes

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i • Green, Shannon From: Alexander, Cynthia Sent: Wednesday, November 09, 2005 9:12 AM To: Green, Shannon Subject: FW: League City: seniors hope for tax help For audit committee. c Original Message Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 7:59 AM Subject: League City: seniors hope for tax help League City seniors hope for tax help By: DANA BURKE, Citizen Staff 11/02/2005 Having seen several Bay Area cities freeze tax rates for seniors and disabled citizens recently, some League City residents say they are getting impatient waiting for their City Council to do the same. The League City City Council last Tuesday instructed City Secretary Barbara Long to coordinate schedules for a workshop on a possible tax freeze, an effort that has been spearheaded by Councilman Jim Nelson. Ruth McCarthy, a resident of The Landing subdivision, said seniors need a tax freeze if they are to continue living in League City. "Our assets are not meeting our liabilities,"she said. Martha Irvin, also a Landing resident, said she has lived in League City for 25 years, and now that she and her husband are on a fixed income, "these taxes are eating us up." "We feel like when we were younger, we paid our dues, and now that we're older, we feel like we need a break,"Irvin said. City spokeswoman Dawn Kilgore has said in the past that staff may look for alternatives to a tax freeze, which could prevent seniors from getting a tax reduction if the rate decreases in the future. Another option for the city would be to raise the homestead tax exemption, which currently sits at $45,000 for seniors and the disabled. Councilwoman Katie Benoit said during the meeting that she wants the City Council to be sure it is doing the right thing before making any changes. "This Council is very concerned about seniors,"Benoit said. "We just want to make sure we're helping people who really need the help."