I read with interest that Borough Mayor Mike Navarre and special assistant Larry Persily are proposing elimination of the senior property tax exemption (Peninsula Clarion, June 5).
Most Alaska seniors are on a fixed income with some depending entirely on their Social Security check each month to make ends meet. Total elimination of the senior property tax exemption would absolutely put these seniors in dire straits. I understand the need to raise sagging tax revenues, but I know there are other ways to do so. For instance, I can go to the borough office, pay $100 and obtain an owner-builder tax exemption that will allow me to purchase building supplies without further taxation. That may save the builder but cost the borough thousands of dollars. Try eliminating that exemption.
If the senior property tax exemption is eliminated, you may be putting your seniors, who are on fixed income, out of their homes. I don’t think that is a prospect that Mayor Navarre or special assistant Persily would enjoy seeing.