WISCASSET

Early in the school year, Selectman Ed Polewarczyk approached Kelley Borg Duffy, a social studies teacher at Wiscasset High School, regarding a possible project for her students.

Polewarczyk related to Duffy that a resident had told the Board of Selectmen the tax burden on the elderly in town was too high, and that there was a state law that allowed towns to write a tax deferment ordinance. Selectmen were intrigued, Polewarczyk said, but didn’t know much about the ordinance.

“Ed asked me if I might have a group of students who would be interested in researching this and making a proposal to the selectmen about how to act,” Duffy said. “Because this request fit so well with the projects we already do, it seemed like a great opportunity for some real-life learning.”

On Monday night, selectmen heard from Megan Corson, Heidi Pinkham and Zach Ellison on a “tax deferral for seniors” plan.

Polewarczyk said prior to the meeting that development of such an ordinance — should the board decide to go in that direction — would take considerable time.

Students in Duffy’s senior government and economics class must complete a group project in which they identify a public policy problem, research possible solutions to it, interview the public about and advocate a solution. This solution has to be presented to people relevant to the problem.

“We want as much as possible for the seniors in this class to look for a problem and see what to do with it,” Duffy said. “That seemed like a perfect place for the students to jump in.”

Polewarczyk met with them once or twice a week and presented them with data. The students now must weigh the benefits for seniors against the town’s revenue needs.

“They’ve been really trying to crunch the numbers and see what it means to the town,” Duffy said.

Their conclusion: They will recommend that the board write an ordinance allowing tax deferment. If the board goes forward with their proposal, they have the opportunity to be involved in writing the ordinance, although the end of the year is fast approaching and this step may prove too time lengthy for them to have much involvement.

Eric Conrad, director of communications and educational services for the Maine Municipal Association, praises the students’ initiative.

“We think it’s great,” Conrad said. “We have a citizen education initiative at MMA. We’re trying to get young kids interested. That’s music to our ears.”

In 2010, the Legislature passed a bill that allows cities and towns to establish a property tax deferral program for senior citizens. Residents applying for a property tax deferral must be at least 70 years old, lived in their homes for at least 10 years, and have a household income of less than 300 per cent of the federal poverty level, which is about $30,000 for a single person and $42,000 for a couple.

The new law allows towns to let property taxes be deferred until the death of the homeowner or sale of the home. Then the taxes would have to be repaid within a set period, along with interest at a rate of 0.5 percent above the annually established rate for delinquent taxes.

Conrad said he knows of perhaps 20 communities that have considered the tax deferments, including Belgrade and Kittery. The requests tend to come from communities such as Wiscasset with waterfront property that present property tax problems for some seniors, he said.

“What we like about the law is, it doesn’t require the communities to do it, but gives them the option,” Conrad said. “It might work in certain towns, in certain towns it might not.”

lgrard@timesrecord.com