Town Treasurer Debbie Nutter places red tape to mark a new level of donation. (Courtesy photo)

Despite the frigid weather earlier this week, a thermometer on the town common is only going up. It's measuring the warmth of the town, said Rick Maiore, chairman of the Elderly and Disabled Taxation Aid Committee, but it's a different kind of warmth from air temperature.

The Elderly and Disabled Taxation Aid Committee has launched its annual appeal for donations to help elderly Harvard homeowners who are struggling to pay their property taxes. The Elderly and Disabled Tax Fund makes a difference for many residents between staying in their homes and leaving Harvard, the committee says.

"I think one of the important aspects of this program is it's a very local program; it's really neighbor helping neighbor," Maiore told the Press. "One hundred percent of the donations reach their target. It goes right from the fund to the town treasury, to pay their real estate taxes."

The committee is aiming to reach $20,000 in donations this year. It's an ambitious but reachable goal, as donations to the fund have been "running in the high teens" for the past few years, Maiore said.

"Just in today's mail we opened six or seven [donations]," said Town Treasurer Debbie Nutter, who is serving on the committee for the first time, after becoming treasurer in August. "I think that people in Harvard really care for people in Harvard."

Established by a Town Meeting vote about 10 years ago and allowed by Massachusetts General Law 60B, the Elderly and Disabled Tax Aid Fund is distributed with strict confidentiality. Unlike other state and federal tax aid programs, Maiore said, the only people who will ever know the names of the applicants are the members of the committee; it is not subject to public information laws.

"I know of no instance in the life of this program where any information was leaked out," Maiore said.

To be eligible to receive the tax help, applicants must be at least 65 by July 1, 2011, or disabled. They must also be homeowners and have lived in Harvard a full year before the application deadline, which is April 30. Annual income for a single person must be under $35,000 and for a couple, under $45,000.

Applications and complete guidelines are available on the town website, www.harvard.ma.us, in the town treasurer's office, at the public library, or by calling Town Hall, on a confidential basis, at 978-456-4100

After the applications are in, the committee considers them one by one, Maiore said.

"We have made awards to almost everyone who has applied," he said.

The committee determines with each application whether to pay the full amount or a percentage of an applicant's tax bill, and, for returning applicants, it can vary from year to year depending on their need.

"The important ingredient is that, with each application, if we run across a real situation, we can adapt it to their need," he said, "because the goal here really is to help elderly people stay in their homes."

Retaining elderly residents is important because it helps maintain diversity in the community, and, Maiore said, from a "purely economic angle," elderly residents don't tax the school system the way a young family who might replace them would.

The Elderly and Disabled Taxation Aid Committee makes its appeal at the beginning of every year. So far, Nutter said, the average gift this year has been between $25 and $30, and it has been as high as $500.

The committee has sent a letter to every household in Harvard. To donate, complete the form and send it with a donation to Town of Harvard, Elderly and Disabled Tax Fund, 13 Ayer Road, Harvard, MA 01451. Donations are tax deductible.