I met recently with an elderly Bangor woman who pointed out that the price of food has gone up, utilities are more expensive and property taxes have increased. Nearly everything costs more than it used to, yet one thing has not gone up: incomes. She was speaking about her fixed pension, but many Mainers of all ages are in a similar situation in which it is getting more difficult to make ends meet each month with rising expenses and stagnant incomes.
This woman lives in a residential Bangor neighborhood, loves her home and wants to stay there. She lives in a permanent state of anxiety, however, about being able to afford it. I worry that the anxiety itself could kill her long before her time because the stress she feels was just so palpable. She told me she has stopped driving, does not eat out anymore, buys only the cheapest groceries, and has even stopped going to church because she cannot get there and she would, “Not have a dollar to put into the offering anyway.”
If you’ve worked hard your whole life, played by the rules and contributed to society as this woman has, you deserve to age with dignity and respect in your own home and neighborhood.
Limiting property tax increases must be a priority for municipal leaders. In Bangor, property taxes have unfortunately gone up even as we have laid off over 50 employees, cut services and programs while privatizing others, and tried to maintain as barebones a budget as we can. Unfortunately, with major cuts to revenue sharing and the shifting of numerous state expenses such as teacher retirement pensions and General Assistance costs, it has been a challenge to limit the impact on our property taxpayers.
That is why it is so refreshing to see a plan come out of Augusta that is not a mere shift of responsibility and expense but actually something that will help our people. I am talking about House Speaker Mark Eves’ “KeepME Home” plan, which will expand property tax credits for seniors, allowing many to be able to better afford to live in their homes.
The plan also would offer support for in-home health care services. This is important because helping seniors stay in their homes is not just the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, it is also the right thing for our state to do financially.
Last year, an article by Matthew Stone of the Bangor Daily News pointed out that in 2010, Maine paid $4,150 per month for each of the 4,700 Medicaid recipients in a nursing home. On the other hand, Maine paid $843 per month for each Medicaid recipient who received services in his or her home. Not every person requiring services will be able to stay at home; some need more comprehensive care. But for each person who can remain at home instead of going into a nursing home, Maine can save $3,307 per month, or close to $40,000 per year.
Many in-home health care workers in Maine make about $9 per hour. The KeepME Home plan would give a much needed boost to these workers, which would likely swell their ranks, improve care and help Maine to retain many of the qualified nurses and other health care professionals who can make far more by heading south.
Lastly, for those seniors who need more comprehensive health care and constant observation, the KeepME Home plan would build over 1,000 units of affordable housing across the state. With interest rates at historically low levels, it is a good time to invest in this type of project. The challenges of helping to support an aging population are not going away and in fact will only get more serious as more and more Mainers retire.
Maine’s aging population is a cause for concern, but it also is a real opportunity for us to get out in front on some positive ideas such as the ones from Eves. Maine can be known as a leader nationwide and even worldwide on a challenge that is not unique to the Pine Tree State. Maine’s seniors have fueled our economy for decades, they have contributed socially and culturally to our communities, and they are getting caught by rising costs and stagnant incomes. The KeepME Home plan is a great set of ideas to take on these challenges, and they should have our collective support.
Ben Sprague is a Bangor city councilor.