As those on a fixed income continue to wrestle with rising property taxes, the mayor of South Portland, Maine, recently recommended that area seniors explore reverse mortgages as a potential option to add financial flexibility. After enduring backlash, Mayor Misha Pride has walked back his comments.
“Contemplating the recent rise in property values, I suggested some seniors might consider a reverse mortgage,” Pride wrote in a letter to the editor of the Portland Press Herald on Thursday. “It was an inappropriate remark that arose from my long experience as an elder law attorney. While it’s a tool I know to have been useful in specific circumstances, I never meant to advocate it as a general approach.”
Pride took things a step further, saying that the comment was “regrettable” while adding he ”sincerely apologize[s]” for making it.
“That said, it should not be misconstrued in an attempt to offset all the good I have advocated for and accomplished in my years of service to our city,” he said. “I share my fellow South Portlanders’ frustration with the state-mandated revaluation that has resulted in this year’s tax increases. I am working hard, right now, with the council and our state legislators toward the tax relief and fairness we all seek.”
Rising property taxes are an issue being wrestled with in many communities, both domestically and internationally. At the council meeting in August, Pride explained that one of the reasons for the increases stems from reduced commercial real estate activity, which has put more of the property tax burden on owners of residential properties.
Pride argued that reviewing the percentages and potential new allocations to a senior-focused tax relief program may not be worth it.
“I just throw this out there because I’ve also been thinking a lot about how especially those with fixed incomes can deal with this,” Pride said at the August meeting. “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.”
This led to “an audible gasp and agitation among those present at the August meeting,” according to the local reporting.
Pride is not a generalist when it comes to understanding issues specific to seniors. As he mentioned in his letter, he is an attorney with a Maine firm that specializes in estate planning and elder law. RMD attempted to contact Pride, but he could not be immediately reached.
The reasoning for Pride’s recommendation echoed a similar one expressed by a mayor in New Zealand earlier this year, but unlike Pride, that mayor has doubled down on his suggestion.