A mayor in Maine is under fire for advising the elderly that they should consider using reverse mortgages to pay skyrocketing property taxes, all while the town has reportedly been hit with a surge of illegal aliens, subsequently driving up local taxes to pay for their care.
Mayor Misha Pride made the recommendation during a South Portland City Council meeting in August. He told those living on a fixed income that it was a last resort but they should definitely consider it.
“At the Tuesday, Aug. 13 meeting, the City Council was discussing a proposal to allocate an additional $50,000 to the city’s Senior Property Tax Relief Fund, in response to a shift of the tax burden from South Portland’s commercial properties to residential ones, caused by the city’s most recent revaluation,” The Maine Wire reported. “The fund, launched in 2011 and designed to provide financial relief to qualifying seniors, has undergone several amendments over the years.”
“According to South Portland Tax Assessor Brent Martin, the age for eligibility has been lowered from 70 to 65, and the maximum relief amount per household has increased from $300 to $500. However, actual benefits are often pro-rated based on available funds and the number of applicants, with the average benefit in 2024 being just $258, Martin wrote in a memo to the City Council,” the media outlet noted.
⚡South Portland Mayor Misha Pride tells seniors to take out a reverse mortgage to afford the city’s sharp increase in property taxes. pic.twitter.com/auJK1pzAdt
— The Maine Wire (@TheMaineWire) September 23, 2024
All of this alludes to the fact that since property taxes have soared in Portland, more and more senior citizen homeowners are applying for tax relief. This results in the average benefit being lowered because there’s only so much money in the fund unless more money is found somewhere. The council has voted in an extra $100,000 for the fund but that will only go so far as well.
The mayor delved into what he called the “perfect storm” in the city which has led to the revaluation of property and the rise in taxes.
“This is very much a perfect storm,” Mayor Pride said. “We live in a coastal community, it’s very attractive to live here. And unfortunately, that means lots of people are buying lots of residential properties.”
“It’s not that commercial is necessarily doing poorly, it’s that there isn’t enough buying and selling of commercial properties to warrant reviewing and raising those percentages… so it’s a really difficult position to be in,” he continued.
So you must sell your house to pay your property taxes? See how well socialism works.
— Charles Watson (@cwatson34) September 23, 2024
Residential property sales outpacing commercial sales have allegedly resulted in property value growth on the residential side, which means that under the revaluation, residential property owners are now seeing much higher taxes.
“I’m really sad, and, you know, my taxes are going up too — and have every year for the last five years, my valuation’s gone up every year for the last five years,” Pride asserted. “I didn’t have the jump that a lot of people saw because mine has been steadily going up every year.”
That’s when he told homeowners to think about a reverse mortgage. There was an audible gasp in the room when he did so at the meeting.
“I just sort of throw this out there because I’ve also been thinking a lot about how especially those with fixed incomes can deal with this, it is kind of a last resort measure, but seeing as our property values are so high, seniors may want to consider a reverse mortgage,” Pride advised.
“I know it’s an ugly word,” he stated, “but there are — I’m just saying, I know it’s horrible, but it’s sort of a last resort.”
Hardworking Americans should take out a mortgage to pay for the illegal immigrants the city needs to house, care for and educate. And 70% of this city will still vote for Kamala which would guarantee another 70,000 to 100,000 immigrants in Maine.
— Better Maine (@MaineLogic) September 23, 2024
The mayor claimed that he was not making the recommendation lightly. He went on to tell them that because of the rise in property values and thus taxes, it may be the only viable option for some senior homeowners who live on a fixed income.
“It’s not something I’d advise someone on first blush,” he claimed.
“This is really difficult for everyone, we don’t take any pleasure in this, and the city doesn’t get any more money,” Pride admonished. “And that’s something I think is hard for people to hear, is that the city is not getting a penny more from taxes, it’s really truly just a shift of who’s paying them, which is, I think, the hardest thing for people to hear and understand.”
Notice how he blames property valuation and says nothing about the influx of illegal immigrants into the city. It’s also noteworthy that Pride is a registered Democrat.
South Portland has been reportedly inundated with illegal immigrants under the Harris-Biden administration. Property taxes have jumped 25% over the last five years. Some property owners have seen taxes go up as high as 60%. Much of this is allegedly being used to cover services for illegal immigrants.
Users on X were disgusted by the leftist solution targeting senior homeowners:
These are evil people.
— Charles X Proxy™ (@Charlemagne0814) September 25, 2024
Commie scum.
— Ari David (@AriDavidUSA) September 24, 2024
This is complete horsesh!t…it was the Democrats who got rid of the tax freeze for senior citizens, and they also got rid of the municipality tax increase cap. I wish people would wake up and realize how much damage the left has done. Senior citizens shouldn’t even have to…
— ☘️L.A.E (@bluewentlunatic) September 23, 2024
Bad advice. Reverse mortgages are often predatory, and I am being kind.
— JJ Randy (@JosephRandazzo) September 23, 2024
Take out a reverse mortgage and spend your kid’s inheritance in order to fund the imported free shit army.
How about giving the seniors with limited means an abatement so they can stay in the community they built through decades of hard work.
— Magachusetts Man (@MagachusettsMan) September 23, 2024
It sounds like he doesn’t represent the elderly citizens.
Taxation without representation.
We did something about that once…
— Milan Sipic (@klaviercop) September 23, 2024
Our society is broken. Seniors work their whole life, spend years planning retirement, and then local government yanks the rug out from under them. Predatory property taxes are nothing more than forced property transfer. At the expense of innocent seniors that should be…
— RichardSloeWinslow (@SloeWinslow) September 23, 2024
A reverse mortgage is a way to confiscate your home.
— BS MythBuster (@elaineakins449) September 23, 2024
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Terresa Monroe-Hamilton is a Constitutional Conservative who researches and writes extensively on politics and current events.
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Publish date : 2024-09-26 06:51:00
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