This holiday giving season is an opportunity to help neighbors who could lose their home.
On April 17, 2024, I wrote a Pushback column proposing a new concept for Greenfield called the “Elderly and Disabled Tax Fund.” On May 8, 2024, the Greenfield City Council’s Ordinances Committee voted unanimously to support this concept, as introduced by At Large Councilor Wahab Minhas, and passed the tax fund idea on to the full City Council– which adopted it unanimously on June 20, 2024. I am not aware of any other town in Franklin County that has adopted an Elderly and Disabled Tax Fund — because most towns don’t know about this statute, even though it’s been available since 1998.
There are elderly and disabled people in Greenfield who are struggling to pay their property tax bills. When property owners fall behind in their payments, they get caught up in an expensive and confusing “tax title” process that ultimately leads to higher payments of interest on their arrears, plus legal fees, and court costs — even to foreclosure of their home and property at public auction. We no longer take excess home equity in Massachusetts, but foreclosures still take homes away.
According to data from The Warren Group, for the 6-month period February through July of 2024, there were 30 foreclosure petitions filed in Franklin County: Greenfield (9), Montague (6) and Orange (4) accounted for 63% of the foreclosure filings.
But we can donate to this new property tax fund to reduce our tax-title takings and foreclosures as much as possible. State law authorizes cities and towns to create an Elderly and Disabled Tax Fund “for the purpose of defraying the real estate taxes of elderly and disabled low-income persons.” By accepting the provisions of Chapter 60, section 3D, Greenfield has authorized citizens to make voluntary check-off donations to help homeowners. Individuals applying for these funds must be facing financial hardship.
Any amounts donated will be deposited into a special city account overseen by the treasurer. This new fund will assist elderly/disabled persons to avoid losing their homes due to back taxes. It allows donors to see their contributions at work locally. It encourages public, private, non-profit, and religious organizations to help neighbors. No additional budget appropriation is required from the city. The fund is locally run and managed by appointed Greenfield citizens.
The first official contribution to this tax fund was made by the Housing for Hope Street Committee, which donated $482 in left-over campaign funds from the November referendum. I have urged the Tax Fund Board to start now by soliciting donations from major corporations doing business in Greenfield to create a matching fund to attract other donors.
For any homeowner who wishes to apply for assistance, the guidelines for applications are posted on the city’s website. They state that “Priority will be given to applicants who are in tax-title and meet all other criteria.” Applications will not open until Sept. 1, 2026, and run through Dec. 1, 2026, giving the Tax Board time to raise an endowment from now until next January, when applications will be reviewed beginning in 2027, with awards made by March 1, 2027. Awards will be applied towards the 4th Quarter Tax Bill (Issued April 1, 2027). The program will raise funds and select applicants annually.
Greenfield will designate a place on its property tax bills, or motor vehicle excise tax bills, to explain how citizens can voluntarily donate any amount to the Elderly and Disabled Tax Fund. Individuals, banks, credit unions, financial services, retailers, car dealerships, media companies, non-profits, and other funders, can step forward now to become “matching fund” donors. Elder and disabled homeowners benefit, and the city gets an enhanced tax collection return. The city could publish a list of major donors whose names would appear on the city’s Elderly and Disabled Tax Fund webpage for a year, as a gesture of good will to major donors.
Anyone wishing to contribute now to the Elderly and Disabled Tax Fund can send a check made out to the “Elderly and Disabled Tax Fund” to: Greenfield Treasurer’s Office, City of Greenfield, 14 Court Square, Greenfield, MA 01301. Donations are not tax deductible.
Corporate donors seeking more information about making a matching donation should email: councilor.minhas@greenfield-ma.gov, or councilor.williams@greenfield-ma.gov.
“This Tax Fund,” Councilor Minhas explains, “is a great way for the whole community to support our neighbors. We give local, and it stays local.”
This holiday giving season, let’s reduce tax-title taking and unhousing, wherever we can.
Al Norman’s Pushback column is published in the Recorder every first and third Wednesday of the month.