Libby Garvey

Libby Garvey

Arlington County Board

Experienced Leadership with a Record of Forward Progress…

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Setting the record straight: I want seniors to afford their homes

May 29, 2016 By admin

I work hard for an Arlington that provides affordable living options for all people, of many income levels and at all stages in their lives. We face many challenges in realizing this vision, and one particularly acute one is how to help seniors whose property tax bills are rising beyond their ability to pay because of the ever increasing value of their property. We need to make sure that they can remain in the homes where they built their lives and helped build our community.

My opponent in this election recently sent a flyer claiming that I am “threatening the ability of our most vulnerable seniors to live in Arlington.” I assure you that this claim is false.

Arlington has two major programs for senior tax relief. One defers taxes until the house is sold, at which time the back taxes are paid from the proceeds of the sale. I believe that we probably should lower the qualification levels for this program so that it is available to more seniors. The second program forgives the taxes entirely. Under this second program, when the home is sold, whoever sells — whether the senior or the beneficiaries after the senior’s passing — keeps the entire proceeds of the sale and never pays the taxes. This can provide quite a windfall to the beneficiaries.

I, along with the entire County Board by a 5-0 vote, asked our staff to study these programs to see if we are publicizing them adequately. We did this to ensure that everyone who needs them is benefiting from them. We also asked our staff to review the criteria for appropriateness to see who is truly benefiting from them. Among the questions we asked our staff to consider is the possibility of eliminating that portion of the tax forgiveness that goes only to beneficiaries, because the program was never meant to benefit beneficiaries — it is meant to benefit seniors. I want our staff to explore whether making this change will free up more money to enable us to expand both programs for our most vulnerable seniors.

Filed Under: Campaign News, Libby's Blog

LIBBY GARVEY FOR COUNTY BOARD

Recent Posts

  • December Meetings: Ballston, Bargaining, Budget, Transitions & Awards
  • NOVEMBER BOARD MEETINGS: RANK CHOICE VOTING, CARRYOVER FUNDS & COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
  • September Board Meetings: GLUP, Restorative Justice Grant, Missing Middle Housing Study & Vote
  • July Board Meetings: Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Adoption, Missing Middle Housing Study & More
  • JUNE BOARD MEETINGS: CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM, MISSING MIDDLE HOUSING STUDY, DEMOCRACY AND ROE V. WADE

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Though, I am on the ballot for re-election to the County Board on November 3rd and I very much want your vote,  I am temporarily suspending campaigning due to the rapidly changing situation with COVID-19.  I am now focusing on ensuring our resiliency as a community so we can get through this health and economic crisis and prepare to recover as quickly as possible. Please see my “COVID-19 Resources” and “News” pages for information on this evolving crisis and how you can help.

Why I Support Libby: Dave Leichtman

“Libby is a Democrat. Let’s go ahead and get that out of the way to start. Heck, Libby is the one who first recruited me to get involved with Arlington Dems, as she has with countless Young Dems.
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(703) 820-3523 | info@libbygarvey.com | 4264 35th St. S., Arlington, VA 22206