AUBURN – Peggy Whirley fears she may not be able to keep the house she’s lived in for the past 27 years.
Worse, she’s afraid she might be forced to move from Auburn, the city that’s been her home her entire life.
“I feel real sad,” she said Wednesday, struggling to fight back tears.
The assessed value of Whirley’s two-unit house at 92 Gill St. has more than doubled, from $81,300 last year to a projected $172,800 under the city’s revaluation.
If the figures hold, she expects to see her property tax bill go from $2,200 this year to $3,801. She says the state-sanctioned homestead exemption would cut the bill by $900, but she’d still pay about $700 more than she did.
The bump in taxes, coupled with what she expects will be a soaring heating bill, has led her to a conclusion.
“Within a year, I’ll probably end up having to sell,” Whirley said.
That means that she and her sister, who rents the other unit in the duplex, will have to find another place to live.
Chances are, she won’t be able to afford to buy another place. That hurts, because Whirley, 69, has been an Auburn homeowner for about 40 years.
Moreover, given the skyrocketing tax picture in the city, rental prices are likely to climb, too, as landlords seek the help of renters to cover tax increases.
Whirley said she would attend a City Council meeting scheduled for Monday night when the mayor, city councilors and city manager are expected to listen to people’s concerns about the property revaluation. She’s hopeful, but she doesn’t expect much to change as a result of it.
Besides the state-supported rental income she gets from her sister, Whirley lives on Social Security. Between taxes and heating oil, she says there won’t be much left to pay for food.
At least she’s healthy, she said. She doesn’t have a lot of medical bills or expensive prescriptions to fill.
Some of that good health might be the result of keeping active. She still mows her lawn in the summer and shovels the walks in the winter.
She’d like to be able to do that for years to come, at her home on Gill Street.
“I don’t want to have to give it up,” she said.
2005 valuation: $81,300
2005 taxes: $2,200
2006 valuation: $172,800
2006 proposed taxes: $3,801
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