Tax Deferral Rip-Off

Your presentation of the California property tax deferral program (“Property Tax Deferral Reverses Some Fortunes,” April 21) is an attempt to whitewash outright fraud as a magnanimous gift to “older homeowners.”

The deferral program is no less than an outright con game designed to force older homeowners to pay the state the full amount of their taxes plus 9%.

No wonder California is the only state with such a program. Only the not-too-bright Californians would allow themselves to be taken advantage of in this way.

My sister in Montgomery County, Md., pays no property taxes because of a program giving relief to persons of low income. My parents in Wisconsin had, in their old age, all property taxes returned because of the Homestead Act, which actually helped the low-income aged.

California’s magnificent law says I pay in full plus 9%! It’s just another rip-off of the aged by the state--now aided by The Times.

DOUGLAS KELLER

Los Angeles

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