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Bedford board adopts change to senior tax exemptions, adds local option to count IRA distributions
Summary
The Town Board adopted a local law increasing the top exemption for low-income seniors and approved a local option to include taxable IRA distributions in income calculations beginning with the 2027 assessment roll; the assessor estimated about 14 current recipients could lose the exemption if IRAs are counted.
The Bedford Town Board on April 7 adopted a local law that raises the maximum property tax exemption for seniors and approved a local option to include taxable IRA distributions when calculating income eligibility, effective for the 2027 assessment roll.
The change increases the top exemption percentage from 50% to 65% for households with incomes below the newly proposed thresholds and extends a graduated sliding scale for higher brackets. The assessor presented a packet and updated chart showing the new tiers and told the board that "65% off the value of your property" would apply to the lowest-income bracket under the proposal.
The assessor also outlined estimated impacts and said the measure could increase the town's tax‑exemption cost in a worst‑case scenario; he flagged that if taxable IRA distributions are included in FAGI, "Approximately 14 seniors will lose the exemption entirely," while another eight would remain eligible but at lower percentages. The assessor noted the town portion of the tax impact under a worst‑case assumption would be about $2.20 (town tax change per average assessed property), and that county and school jurisdictions would also need to adopt the option for the full effect to apply.
Board members discussed timing and fairness. Several members supported delaying implementation of the IRA‑inclusion option until the following year so seniors could plan; others said counting IRAs aligns treatment of IRA withdrawals with pensions and annuities, which are already included as income. With no public comments filed during the extended hearing, the board closed the hearing, moved to adopt the local law with the two-option approach, and voted to approve the resolution; the clerk recorded the motion as carried.
The assessor and staff reminded residents that exemption applications are due May 1; the resolution leaves the detailed exemption tables and IRA‑inclusion option in the local law for the board and affected jurisdictions to adopt as specified.
Authorities referenced in the hearing include town code chapters 110-4 and 110-5 and the proposed local law adopting modified income thresholds and an IRA‑inclusion local option.
