Assessor Judith Lechmanski explained possible changes to senior exemptions to the Town Board on Tuesday, and Alexandra Hakim, the recently hired part-time Town Social Worker, described mental health challenges she’s encountering.
Lechmanski noted that her office has so far received more than 400 responses from property owners regarding information cards mailed out last week. If you haven’t already done so, the assessors ask property owners to check that the information contained on their cards is accurate and to make any corrections before returning them.
However, Lechmanski’s primary reason for attending the work session was to discuss decisions facing the Town Board about senior property tax exemption eligibility calculations. When the Town raised the income allowance for the exemption last year from $37,400 to $58,400, the number of seniors participating in the program grew from 52 to 92.
Now, the IRS is offering municipalities the option of including IRA distributions in the calculation to determine eligibility. This may narrow the pool by excluding seniors with hefty IRA income. Deputy Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams, an accountant, said she’d like some time to “noodle” the numbers.
Lechmanski said a decision is due later this year.
Social worker describes mental health challenges
In her new role as Town Social Worker, Hakim said that she doesn’t yet have much data but has made some general observations about mental health challenges on the Island.
Among those who’ve reached out for help (or who were directed to her for assistance by others, including the Police Department) are many with untreated and, in some cases, unrecognized mental health issues. These include personality disorders, schizophrenia, and hoarding.
“Then, there’s just a lot of isolation, which leads to a lot of depression.”
Hakim said that chief among the challenges facing Islanders in need of mental health support is the lack of affordable psychiatrists and psychologists on the East End. The only practitioners she’s found don’t accept insurance, taking out-of-pocket payments only. And, they’re expensive.
She said two nonprofit agencies take Medicare or Medicaid, but there are long waitlists for treatment.
Supervisor Gerry Siller said the timing of Hakim’s talk with the board dovetailed with budget planning that’s just getting underway and the Comprehensive Plan Update. He asked that she share some ideas for what the Town could do to support those in need.
How to help those in need
Hakim suggested that the Town reach out to Stony Brook Medicine to see if a mental health counselor could visit the Island Medical Center periodically to provide services, possibly grant-funded.
She offered a “pie-in-the-sky” idea: developing an Island retirement community.
“I’ve met a lot of older people that don’t want to leave Shelter Island,” she said. But living here on a fixed income in a home that’s too big to manage is hard.
She envisioned creating clustered senior housing, similar to what’s called for in the Community Housing Plan. “Lots of older people are just really struggling to stay here,” she said.
Young parents are having trouble finding qualified, affordable daycare, and there may be a grant-funded program the Town could support. “It costs you more to pay for daycare than what you earn when you go to work,” she said.
Hakim said she’s also working with HUGS Inc. and Gina Kraus on an anti-bullying program for the school. And she’s running a bi-weekly caregiver support group at the Senior Center. She also helped facilitate Narcan training for the Island restaurants’ staff.
Given the wide range of needs, she said she’d appreciate it if the Town provided funding for her to connect with a more experienced social worker for guidance and supervision. “It’d be helpful to have more expertise,” she said.
‘A great asset to the Town’
SIPD Chief James J. Read said Hakim has been “a great asset to the Town” and that he hoped the Town Board could find resources to extend her hours and give her the support she’s requested.
Hakim said she’s been meeting clients at the library, among other locations, but could really use a dedicated, neutral space.
Councilwoman Meg Larsen said the lack of local treatment options for mental health challenges has come up in Comprehensive Plan Update discussions.
Hakim’s insights show that “we need to look at our community from a mental health standpoint in a more holistic way,” Larsen said, adding the Town needs to do more to address issues like food and housing insecurity and other “stressors that exacerbate underlying mental illness.”
