Working in Schools May Reduce Senior's Property Taxes

Katharine Goodloe:

Seniors citizens in Germantown may soon be able to get a discount on their property taxes - by working in schools throughout the year to earn it.

The district is considering adopting a program, popular in several Wisconsin districts, that places seniors in school-based roles, then issues them a check to be applied toward their property tax bill.

Richmond Elementary in Waukesha County adopted the program eight years ago, and seniors there can work up to 78 hours a year for $5.50 an hour. They must be age 62 or older, and at the end of the year a two-party check is issued to the senior and to the county treasurer to be applied to their property tax bill.

"Everybody I talk to, I tell them what I'm doing and they can't believe I'm getting money off my property taxes for doing this," said Lois Fast, 78, one of the school's seven volunteers in the Senior Citizen Tax Exchange Program, or STEP.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 12, 2006 6:12 AM
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