The Williams Lake Seniors’ Activity Centre will be hosting a town hall with seniors advocate Isobel Mackenzie on Friday, June 9.
“She will have an open discussion about seniors’ issues,” said activity centre manager Glenda Winger.
Mackenzie will talk about health care, housing, income support, personal support and transportation, Winger added.
There will be a slide presentation with statistics from the last few years in B.C.
Winger encourages everyone to attend.
The event is free and goes from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
In March 2020, Mackenzie attended a meeting at the Seniors Activity Centre in Williams Lake.
Recently her office put out a news release urging senior homeowners struggling with the rising costs of living and aging to consider deferring their 2023 property taxes.
The BC Property Tax Deferral Program allows homeowners 55+ to defer all or some of their annual property taxes. The Province pays the tax to the local government on behalf of the senior homeowner and the deferred taxes are repaid to the Province when the home is sold, the release noted.
“Eight out of 10 seniors in B.C. are homeowners with modest or low incomes and are finding it very hard to keep up with rising costs. Almost half of B.C. seniors live on an income that is less than minimum wage,” Mackenzie said. “Seniors who defer their property taxes can put as much as $500 per month back in their pocket to help pay for the costs of aging such as medications, mobility aids, personal care support and other activities of daily living which are vital for people as they get older.”
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monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
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