Almost everyone I know, including many people in their 60s and beyond, have been struggling this winter with the balancing of expenses against income. Unfortunately, spring and summer don’t look much better and if we can believe the predictions, the economy will not be improving anytime soon.

Meanwhile, our needs do not change. What can be done? This is the time to take advantage of every bit of help that is available. One of the biggest bites out of income is property tax, but there may be ways you can save on this expense. The following are exemptions available and if you qualify or think you qualify for any of them, call your local town office and find out more. The information below is from my town’s Web site but applies to all Maine taxpayers. Please don’t delay if you think you may qualify or if you just want to learn more.

1. Veterans exemption

There have been changes in the Maine Tax Law.

Generally, veterans who have reached age 62 and who served in active duty in a federally recognized war period, as well as 100 percent disabled veterans, qualify for a tax exemption of $5,000 off their property valuation.

The following changes in Maine tax law may qualify veterans who did not qualify in the past for partial exemption of property taxes:

The exemption has been expanded to include veterans who served during the periods from Aug. 24, 1982 to July 31, 1984, and December 20, 1989 to January 31, 1990, as well as those that were awarded the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. The exemption has also been expanded to include all veterans who served during the period of Feb. 28, 1961 to Aug. 5, 1964. Formerly, veterans who served during this period of time had to have served in the Republic of Vietnam in order to qualify for an exemption. The law still requires that a veteran of the Vietnam War must have served on active duty for a period of more than 180 days, any part of which occurred after Feb. 27, 1961 and before May 8, 1975.

2. Homestead exemption

In 1998, the Legislature enacted a homestead exemption for Maine residents. This exemption allows homeowners whose principal residence is in Maine a reduction in valuation (adjusted by the town’s certified assessment ratio). (For example, the reduction in Windham this year is $13,000 off the assessed valuation of your property.)

If you are a Maine homeowner and have resided at the property for at least 12 months prior to April 1, 2008 you may be eligible for this State property tax relief program in the coming year.

Applications must be filed with the assessor’s office by April 1, 2008.

3. Blind exemption

People who have been declared legally blind by their physician are entitled to an exemption of $4,000 off their property valuation, adjusted by a town’s certified code.

4. Economic stimulus payment

This is the recent “tax rebate” which has been publicized far and wide. This is a reminder to senior citizens in particular, that you need to file a tax return in order to receive this. If your Social Security is your only income, you still need to file because this year that amount will count toward the minimum of $3,000 which you need to show as income on your tax return. For this purpose (rebate) your Social Security counts as income, even though you don’t usually file a return because you pay no income tax.

There are free tax experts available near you during this tax season, who will help you if you have any questions or are just totally confused. Check with your library, town hall, call Southern Maine Agency on Aging, call the AARP or go on the Internet and “google” AARP Tax Aide.

Make this effort and you could receive $300 or more to help with the ongoing economic problems.

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