CLINTON - After looking into a new, proposed elderly tax relief/freeze program, the Town of Clinton has decided to instead bolster three relief programs already in place.

The Board of Selectmen (BOS) began discussing this program in December 2012, forming a committee shortly thereafter to investigate the benefits of similar programs in other towns and the feasibility of enhancing the town's current tax relief ordinances. The committee consisted of Lynn Pinder, Melanie Yanus, Len Fried, Brian Manware, Donna Sempey, and Dolly Mezzetti.

Using as a model Guilford's tax freeze program, which was one of the first in the area, First Selectman William "Willie" Fritz originally proposed the tax freeze for property owners 65 years or older. The applicants would have had to live in Connecticut for at least one year and had the property as their principal residence. They would have had to reapply on a yearly basis to have their tax rates frozen at the rate of their initial application. This program would have also applied to disabled residents of any age. Fritz said about 500 residents would have qualified for the tax freeze under those criteria.

Clinton currently has three tax programs in place: the Tax Deferral Program for the Elderly and Disabled, the Benefit Tax Program, and the Volunteer Fire Department Tax Exemption Program. After receiving comments from the committee, the selectmen have decided to amend portions of these programs; a public hearing on the proposal was scheduled for March 27 (after press time).

Amendments include increasing the Tax Deferral program's income level from $55,000 to $60,000 per year and increasing the Benefit Tax program's income level from $55,000 to $60,000 per year, the maximum benefit increase from $500 to $550, and increasing funding for the program from $130,000 to $180,000. The Volunteer Fire Department Tax Exemption Program will be extended one year and amended to reflect the Oct. 1, 2012 Grand List.

To learn more about these programs, visit the town's website at www.clintonct.org or call the Office of the Tax Collector at

860-669-9067.