CONWAY — As the town’s new senior tax work-off program prepares to launch in the coming months, the Selectboard laid out the eligibility parameters on Monday.

Conway began planning the program in July and is expected to have seniors working by Jan. 2 in a program that allows residents to work part-time in a municipal position and have their wages applied to their quarterly tax bills. Folks can work in different town offices and will be paid the Massachusetts minimum wage of $15 an hour.

“I’m thinking we’re going to have a lot of people, so I would personally recommend 65 [years old as the minimum age]. We do have a much older community,” said Selectboard Chair Chris Waldo. “The more important eligibility mark we hit is income level.”

The eligibility requirements took shape Monday night, as Selectboard members approved a minimum age requirement of 65 and an income level of $38,350 for a single person or $43,800 for a couple, which is based on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s income statistics for Franklin County.

The income limit in Conway will fall in between that of several western Massachusetts towns. Dalton’s limits are $25,000 for a single person and $33,000 for a married couple; Winchendon’s is $40,150 for a single person and $45,900 for a married couple; while Erving follows the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “low income limits” of $40,150 for a single person and $45,900 for a married person.

Assets are also a part of the requirements, although the town will exempt a primary residence and one vehicle from an applicant’s income level. The asset limit is $40,000 for a single person and $55,000 for a couple.

Town Administrator Veronique Blanchard explained the town will open up applications soon and the deadline will be in mid-December. Once applications are in, the town will attempt to match people up to jobs based on their skills.

“There’s only a certain number of jobs that are available,” Blanchard said. Previously, town officials said the first year of the tax work-off program will start small with only five positions. “We’re going to have to match up those applicants to those jobs.”

If there is a surplus of applicants, the town will pick candidates through a lottery system.

Once applicants are placed in their roles, they’ll start work on Jan. 2 and work through Sept. 30, 2025. Finally, their work will be applied to fiscal year 2026 tax bills.

When the tax work-off program kicks off, Conway will join other Franklin County communities like Erving, Greenfield and Orange in offering avenues for seniors to reduce their tax bills.

In Greenfield, for example, the senior work-off program accepts citizens over the age of 60 who have owned property in the city for at least five years and lived in Massachusetts for at least 10 years. Greenfield’s Council on Aging reviews the applications and decides whether applicants qualify. The 15 available spots are picked through a lottery and applicants are assigned to a position based on their listed skills.

The city’s program allows folks to work on jobs such as entering data for the Energy Department, election preparation with the City Clerk’s Office, providing customer service for public safety work at the Health Department or preparing rooms for the Council on Aging. In Conway, town officials previously said potential spots for workers are the Highway Department, the Board of Assessors and the Town Administrator’s Office.

More information on Conway’s senior tax work-off program will come from the town in the coming weeks.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.