The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-07-09
|$5,OOO IS TOWNS
 SHARE OF TAX
Few Exemptions for Old Age Pension Levy;
 Meetings Tonight
THOMASTON
Correspondent-B. E. Martin,
 Telephone 3O9

Thomaston's share of the old-age assistance tax will be $5,47S.14, ac- cording to a schedule isued by Tax Commissioner William H. Hackett. The towns population is listed as 4.1Ss.
 According to the communication sent out by the tax commissioners to selectmen of towns, city and bor- ough officials, the intent of the old age legislation is as follows, in brief:
 ITO have the state government collect $2,100,000 annually from the 169 towns of Connecticut in or der to meet the cost of old-age as- sistance to persons in need who are 65 years of age or more.
 '"To have the towns give up the old personal tax of $2 so far as the future is concerned but to permit them to collect all personal taxes due or legally due on enrollments of October 1, 1894, and prior there- to.
 ITO have each of the 169 towns collect, annually an old-age assist ance tax of $3 Cor $4. if not paid within 30 days from its due date) from all residents, with very few exceptions, who are between the ages of 21 to 60, inclusive. ITO have the local administra- ton in each town of the old-age assistance taxe of $3 centralized, as far as may be, in two persons: (a) its chief executive authority and (b) its property tax collector There will be very few local per- sons exempt from the tax. For ex- ample: members of the fire depart ment were exempt from the per- sonal tax but there is no such pro- vision in the new legislation. The only persons exempt will be the following: Honorably discharg- ed veterans, disabled as 8 result of service to a compensate degree. Veterans not in this class will be required to pay.
 Abatements from the local old age assistance tax are limited. The new law gives the chief executive authority of the town the power to at any time abate the old-age as- sistance tax in any case only if the the person seeking abatement can satisfy two conditions: (a) Such person is actually too poor to pay such tax; and (b) Such person is actually receiving aid as a public charge from the state or one of the sub- b-divisions of Connecticut or is actually receiving old-age assist ance in accord with the provisions of the new legislation. The abating authority is vested in a single per- son. the towns chief authority. This being the case, it is under stood that the chief authority here Is the first selectman, B. R. Kaiser.
 The new legislation, according to the tax commissioner, has attempt ed to overcome troubles which arose in administering the old per- sonal tax law by centralizing the administration of the tax in the hands of the chief executive au- thority (the first selectman in Thomaston) and the tax collector. Mark c. Guernsey is teh local col lector of taxes. On the former Is to be placed the entire responsibility of making an accurate enrolment and rate bill and of granting ex- emptions and abatements. On the tax collector is to be placed the en- tire responsibility of seeing that there is high-grade collection.
 As stated before, all unpaid per- sonal taxes on back lists must be paid. According to the annual re- port of Personal Tax Collector W. G. Johnston, for the last fiscal year, there was ST. ,694 due in back taxes then. There were 1,5S7 names of those subject to the personal tax on the book of the year 1893.