Desenzano Boosts Support for Senior Residents with New Social Policies
The number of elderly residents living in the Garda capital is increasing, and simultaneously, the Municipality’s attention to the senior population is growing. Pensioners make up 27% of the nearly 24,000 residents. The steady growth of the elderly population is partly linked to increased life expectancy and partly to Desenzano’s attractiveness.
The town, with its climate, manageable size, and services, appeals to young retirees who willingly leave the metropolises. The Municipality has allocated a chapter of the budget specifically to the third age.
Interventions and Social Policies
Primarily through significant investments in service sectors, starting with community centers, but also by implementing aid programs and support interventions for low-income seniors. The ‘Senior Package,’ initiated by Social Services Councillor Valentino Marostica, was revised last week through an agreement between the Administration and pensioners’ unions.
“The goal,” explains Mayor Felice Anelli, “is to prevent conditions of greater socio-economic hardship by pursuing policies of integration and strengthening social services as an effective response to meet the needs of pensioners and the elderly.”
Support Measures and Incentives
The agreement includes the provision of financial contributions, discounts, and benefits on health tickets and utility supplies such as electricity and gas, waste disposal taxes, urban transportation, and the silver card. The agreement also encompasses a housing policy plan.
Firstly, the agreement defines the beneficiaries of the benefits as all pensioners regardless of age and seniors over 60 residing in Desenzano. Income limits are those set by the ‘redditometro’ (taxation index), based on the equivalent economic situation.
To determine income, the following are summed: IRPEF income, 20% of financial assets, any holdings in securities or savings with a minimum exemption of 50 million lire, and other well-defined parameters. Excluded from these benefits are owners of second homes, owners of campers, caravans, recreational vehicles over 2000 cc, or owners of multiple cars.
Regarding concrete benefits, pensioners excluded from ticket exemptions but within the income limits previously mentioned will be reimbursed for diagnostic and laboratory test tickets for the year 2000 conducted in public or affiliated structures. They will only need to present the prescription and receipt to the Municipality.
Pensioners eligible for the benefit will also receive a special health card valid for one year, allowing full reimbursement of tickets for drugs classified in bands A and B. The Municipality will also provide contributions toward electricity and gas expenses for individuals over 65 years old. The contribution, depending on income, will be no less than 250,000 lire and will increase according to the family situation.
Pensioners and seniors over sixty will be granted a 33% discount on waste disposal taxes. In certain cases, this benefit can even result in free services. The monthly urban transport pass costs half for pensioners who possess the silver card, a magnetic card distributed to around 7,000 pensioners in Desenzano, which also grants discounts and privileges in numerous shops.
Finally, the Municipality has committed to implementing a careful housing policy for pensioners, to be realized through the affordable housing plan.
