Now they seem to be the apparent target when localities are looking for money to fund failed projects, build new schools, and keep supporting failed initiatives which impact the quality of lifestyle for them and other citizens. Unfortunately, seniors are being looked at as enablers. Bless their hearts.
They have fixed income, fixed retirement income, probably a little money saved in a shoebox. With the way the economy has gone over the last several years I would imagine quite a few of them are a lot better source of revenue than working folks because their money has remained steady. Vultures don't check the health of their prey they just attack their prey and devour them.
I strongly feel this is happening to our seniors. How did this slip up on us? Just like when an animal is hungry they will look scavenger for food. Right now it seems that seniors are that food.
Let's face it with the large percentage seniors make, especially in areas with an aging population, aged homes, and more mature living communities, you'll find seniors who worked all their lives and are trying to live as comfortably as they can during their retirement years. In a lot of cases I know of personally people with retirement income end up with more disposable income than people who work every day. Is this any reason to increase their tax burden or cut the programs which assist our seniors? I think not.
My recommendation would be to look at the programs, fees, expenses, any and everything to make our seniors comfortable during their retirement years. I remember years ago back in the late 80's and early 90's when seniors where eating pet food to survive because they couldn't afford real food. Let's not return to those days in any state, in any city, in any community. I say put our human resources like the grown healthy folks on the public welfare systems and/or the grown healthy folk incarcerated under mandatory minimums for non-violent offenses back into being productive members of society. The money expended on any group of them would more than pay the property taxes for a number of seniors.
If you keep managing and doing things the way they've always been done and they are not working you can't possibly expect any different results.
Our seniors deserve better. No one can possibly plan how much their property value will one day during their retirement years. Who would have bought a home at $15,000 and imagined one day the future value of that home would be a quarter of a million dollars? And when they are in their retirement they will not be exempt from paying taxes on it because the value of it escalated beyond their wildest dreams when they were working to acquire it and pay on it during their working years? If they paid $15,000 for a house 40 years ago that is worth over a quarter of a million today shouldn't they just be able to enjoy the fact that they made a good investment. Chances are if they were hard working and combined two incomes to buy it and fixed it up and expanded it as they grew older to get things right for their retirement why would anyone think they would have the money to pay taxes on it at today's tax rates. They depend on their elected officials to represent their interests. Common sense sometimes has to take a stand over book sense when it comes to supporting your constituency.
Don't turn the American Dream into a living nightmare for our seniors. Let them enjoy their rest in retirement peacefully. Our senior home owners most often have contributed plenty to the economy via personal property taxes, sales taxes, and real estate taxes during their lifetime. If they had invested all the money they have already paid in taxes into stocks or bonds chances are they would be getting a return right now. It is not their fault they invested their money most often by force into a system that has not only failed them but wants to fail them some more via increased tax burdens and less assistance for the programs and things they need the most.
When localities want to use money to fund this, fund that, they need to be made to do a decision sheet, present a balanced budget which includes some room for reserves, and a plan of execution with plausible milestones. It seems too many things get carried out based on meetings and not a meeting of the minds. Things need to mesh together to be successful. The fiduciary duty of any elected officer should include the basic knowledge of whether or not they are qualified to handle and make decisions that will impact people in a positive way. Can someone please devise a test along the lines of an employment test to see if they have the aptitude, knowledge, or skills to perform?
I'm sorry the current state of a lot of economies has led me to feel election of public officials should not be a popularity contest but rather based on merit and a proven track record of successful implementation and growth.
Lord help our seniors because they are being looked at as a being a pot of gold rather than as citizens worthy of enjoying their golden years. Seniors already have increased medical bills, increased costs to fill their prescriptions, increased costs in having to have others do maintenance and repairs on homes they no longer have the health to do, money for companions, money for medical transport, money for so many things they probably couldn't have literally planned for would be so costly in retirement either.
Grown, healthy people should be out working, our seniors should be enjoying their retirement!
