Geake for Norwalk Common Council

In the same Sunday paper insert, Scott Merrell proposed a "homestead exemption" for people who [1] have lived in their homes for ten years or longer, [2] are registered voters, and [3] are United States citizens. Ignoring for the moment that if you are a registered voter, you are, by definition, a United States citizen, a homestead exemption could be a good idea.

One of the problems of all the redevelopment going on here in Norwalk is that property values are going up and up. This is a problem because it is driving some people out of their homes through no fault of their own — low-income homeowners who struggled to buy in the first place, and senior citizens who have been in their homes for decades but now they are on a fixed income, should not be forced out just because some developer wants to build luxury condos down the street.

But back to Mr. Merrell's proposal. I'm reasonably certain that it would not be legal to tie a financial benefit to voting (or even registering to do so); and if somebody has owned a home for ten or more years, they have serious ties to the community, regardless of their citizenship status.

One other change I'd make is to limit the benefit to homes worth $750,000 or less. My intent is to keep people from losing their homes, not to just enrich people who could afford to pay their taxes anyway.