THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022 Page 17 “We would like to invite any who are available to help for an hour to help us prepare the garden on Friday, May 13th and/or Saturday May 14th between 9 a.m. and noon. “Assist in the planting of crops on Friday May 27th and/ or Saturday May 28th sometime between 9 and noon. We will be having a brief service of the blessing of the ground on the Friday. “Assist for an hour a week in the tending of the crops (weeding and watering) over the course of the summer. “Assist in the harvesting of the crops in September and delivering them to the Saugus Food Pantry” “If you are able to assist, or if you are interested in contributing to the garden, please let me know. I am looking forward to working with you,” Rev. Beach said. He can be reached by phone (774-9619881) or email (revjbeach@ gmail.com). Saugus Kindergarten Registration underway Kindergarten registration for students entering the Saugus Public Schools in the fall of 2022 opened this week. Registration packets may be picked up at the Main Offi ce of the Veterans Early Learning Center (VELC), 39 Hurd Ave. in Saugus Monday through Friday during school hours. The packet will also be available on the Saugus Public Schools’ website, https://www.saugus. k12.ma.us/. Completed forms and required documentation may be returned to the VELC Main Offi ce starting Monday, May 16. Packet drop-off hours will be Monday through Friday from 9:30 to 11 a.m.; kindergarten screening appointments will be scheduled at this time. Screenings will take place on Wednesday, June 8 and Thursday, June 9 and will last about 20 minutes. There is no deadline for registration; however, the district asks families to return the forms by May 20 in order for them to schedule screenings and plan for staffi ng and programming in the fall. Saugus moved to a free, allday kindergarten model for the 2021-22 school year to better prepare students academically, socially and emotionally. A half-day option is not available. “Free, all-day kindergarten levels the playing field and gives Saugus children all of the building blocks they need from day one,” said School Committee Member Ryan Fisher. Students must be fi ve years old by Aug. 31, 2022, in order to enter kindergarten in the fall of 2022; there are no exceptions. For more information, please contact the Veterans Early Learning Center at 781-231-8166. Curbside leaf collection next week The Town of Saugus recently announced that spring curbside leaf collection will take place during the week of May 9, 2022. Residents may dispose of leaves curbside on their regularly scheduled collection day, between Monday, May 9, and Friday, May 13. Leaves should be left outside by 7 a.m. on the appropriate days. Please ensure that leaf containers are physically separated from trash and recycling. Paper leaf bags are the preferred method of leaf disposal. If you are using barrels, they must be clearly marked with yard waste stickers. Stickers, which are free, may be obtained at Inspectional Services in the lower level of Town Hall (298 Central St., Saugus). Barrel covers must remain removed so that the leaves are visible. Plastic bags, cardboard boxes, branches, and brush will not be accepted. Please note that separate trucks collect the rubbish, recycling and leaves, so the leaves may be collected at a diff erent time of day. “Missed pick-ups” will not be conducted. Please contact Lorna Cerbone at 781-2314036 with any questions. Buy a brick to honor a Saugus veteran The Saugus War Monument Committee once again is sponsoring the Buy A Brick Program to honor all those who have served their country. If you would like to purchase one in the name of someone who is presently serving or has served, in the memory of a loved one, or just for someone from your family, school, etc., the general pricing is $100 for a 4? X 8? brick (three lines) and $200 for 8? X 8? brick (fi ve lines). Each line is a maximum of 15 characters. The improvement and upkeep of the monument on the corner of Winter and Central Streets rely on the generosity of donors through fundraising. The brick application must be in by Sept. 15 to ensure the bricks will be ready for Veterans Day. Please contact Corinne Riley at 781-231-7995 for more information and applications. SHS Class of ’62 plans 60th reunion Leaders of the Saugus High School Class of 1962 would like you to “SAVE THE DATE.” Their 60th Class Reunion will be held on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Prince Pizzeria in Saugus. They are reaching out to contact fellow classmates as well as other alumni who would like to join them. The well-known 50s and 60s music group of Howie Conley will be there for musical enjoyment. Those of you who have heard them know what a performance they put on. There will be pizza and salad combinations plus soft drinks. The price includes all you can eat, tax and gratuities — plus Howie Conley’s group — and is $29 per person. There is a bar available for wine, beer and mixed drinks. There is no need to purchase tickets at this time. Please let one of the following people know of your interest either by a phone call or a text message so that you can be easily reached when the time draws near. No commitment is necessary. They are just exploring the number of interested classmates. Donna “Cann” Olivera — 781-987-4308 Jonni “Giantonio” Matrona — 781-439-4200 Janice “Cristiano” Pomeroy — 617-512-2097 Larry Seavers — 704-9062606 Food pantry seeking driver volunteers The Saugus United Parish Food Pantry seeks volunteers to make food and bread pickTHE SOUNDS | SEE PAGE 18 Sunday, May 8 from 9—11 p.m. on Channel 8 — “Sunday Night Stooges” (The Three Stooges). Monday, May 9 all day on Channel 8 — “Movie Monday” (classic movies). Tuesday, May 10 at 8:30 p.m. on Channel 9 — Planning Board Meeting from May 5. MASSHEALTH’S CALCULATION OF VALUE OF LIFE ESTATES M assHealth issued Eligibility Operations Memo 19-12, “Calculating the value of a life estate and remainder interest” on August 15, 2019. Eff ective September 3, 2019, MassHealth no longer uses the IRS Table S interest rates (found in Book Aleph) along with interest rates published by the IRS pursuant to Internal Revenue Code Section 7520 when calculating the value of a life estate and remainder interest in real estate. MassHealth is now using the Social Security Operations Manual (POMS) SI 01140.120 Life Estate and Remainder Interest Table. The result of this is that the value of a life estate interest as calculated by MassHealth is much higher than it otherwise would be under the old valuation method. Therefore, if a parent had deeded his or her home to the children many years ago with a reserved life estate and now wishes to sell the home, the amount of the net sales proceeds that will belong to the parent is a lot higher than it otherwise would be. Once the home is sold and the parent is now credited with the portion attributed to the life estate interest, those monies will then be considered countable assets when applying for MassHealth. If the parent immediately transfers those monies to his or her children, a new fi ve year look back period would commence as of the date of the transfer. As a result, much more money is at stake if the parent were to go into THIS WEEK ON SAUGUS TV Wednesday, May 11 at 8:30 p.m. on Channel 9 — Special Town Meeting from May 2. Thursday, May 12 at 6 p.m. on Channel 9 — School Committee Meeting ***live***. Friday, May 13 at 8:30 p.m. on Channel 9 — Finance Committee Meeting from May 4. Saturday, May 14 at 8:30 p.m. on Channel 9 — Board of Selectmen Meeting from May 4. Saugus TV can be seen on Comcast Channels 8, 9 & 22. For complete schedules, please visit www.saugustv.org. ***programming may be subject to change without notice*** a nursing home prior to the expiration of that fi ve-year period. If the real estate is a vacation home, if MassHealth utilizes the new tables for valuing the life estate in the vacation home, the parent may very well be over the asset limit due to the higher valuation. Using the old IRS Table S along with the Internal Revenue Code Section 7520 interest rates would result in much less exposure as far as countable assets are concerned. One option would be to rent out the vacation home at a profi t and take the position that the vacation home is necessary for self-support. In this case, the vacation home would not be considered a countable asset. The net income from the vacation home would have to be paid to the nursing home as part of the patient pay amount, but MassHealth would pay the bulk of the monthly nursing home cost if the application is otherwise approved. If the real estate in question is your principal residence and it is sold, under the MassHealth new calculation methodology, more of the gain will be allocated to the life tenant resulting in less or no capital gains tax due to the $250,000 capital gains tax exclusion (if single) or $500,000 (if married). If the children do not live in the home, they would not be able to take advantage of the capital gains tax exclusion. In that situation, having less of the sales proceeds attributed to the remaindermen (i.e. children) would end up saving them in taxes. The irrevocable trusts offers the best approach to protecting assets and assuring favorable tax results now that court cases have been decided against MassHealth in support of the use of these trusts as an estate planning/ Medicaid planning strategy.
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