HUNTINGTON BEACH : Proposal Would Aid Low-Income Seniors

City Councilwoman Grace Winchell has proposed that the city allow more low-income seniors to be exempt from paying trash-collection fees and utility taxes. Currently, only residents over 60 years of age whose annual income is $10,000 or less qualify as low-income seniors for whom fees may be waived.

Under Winchell’s proposal, the income limit would be set at the level established by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD allows seniors with yearly incomes of up to $17,000 to receive federal housing assistance.

“Seniors who are earning $17,000 a year certainly can use all the help they can get,” Winchell said.

But most importantly, she said, tying the city’s trash and utility fee exemptions to the HUD level would automatically build cost-of-living adjustments into the cap. The current level has been fixed at $10,000 for more than a decade, city officials said. Qualifying seniors are exempt from paying the $9.85 bimonthly trash fee and utility tax.

Winchell said the Council on Aging suggested raising the income cap to bring it in line with that established for the city’s Fire-Med program. Fire-Med offers residents extensive paramedic services for a $6 bimonthly fee. Seniors who qualify for low-income status may receive the service free of charge.