West Easton Councilman Tom Nodoline will be proposing a change in the age requirement to qualify for a senior discount of the quarterly trash and sewer bill received by residents.
Currently, the age requirement is 65.
In a phone conversation with Mr. Nodoline this evening, he confirmed that he will be looking for a discussion with the rest of the council members at the next West Easton council meeting on October 13th. At the conclusion of that discussion he will ask for a motion to be made for a vote on reducing the age requirement.
Councilman Nodoline believes a discount for homeowners age 60 and over is “do-able” for their primary residence, though he said he is unsure if the rest of the council will pass it.
I hope he gets it to a vote. I’d be interested in seeing who would vote against it.
The discount is anticipated to remain at the standard $20 off the normal bill received by non-senior residents. Currently, the normal quarterly bill is $154, with seniors paying $134.
Though I’m still years away from benefiting from the senior discount I believe it is long overdue. Even the government allows you to retire at 62 1/2 years old and AARP started recruiting me when I turned 50 (thanks for those reminders, AARP).
Also surprising to me is that West Easton isn’t populated with an overabundance of old farts like myself, so I believe the relatively few homes that would be allowed into the seniors discount club won’t be a burden to the budget.
Considering we gained $65,000 in not paying Easton for police coverage and our mill rate increased another 2.2 points, I think Mr. Nodoline has the right idea in alleviating some monetary hardship for the seniors in our community. It’s an idea I like much better than keeping the two old jeeps West Easton bought.
According to Weichert Realtors, the median age in West Easton is now 39.1 years old, down from 39.9 in 2010, indicating a younger crowd are replacing the older residents that move, or pass away.
A breakdown of the 1288 residents ages are shown in the graph below:
UPDATE: Mr. Nodoline failed to bring up the subject of lowering the age at the Council meeting. Apparently, he had no intention of walking the talking and I believe he may have been directed not to bring up the subject at any Council meeting, when Council president Kelly Gross became aware of intention through this post.
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
