The Boston City Council voted unanimously last week to hold a hearing to go through how it might enact an automatic senior and persons with disabilities discount to homeowners’ water and sewer bills.

Currently, qualifying homeowners can get up to a 30 percent discount on their monthly water, sewer and stormwater charges. Those qualifications include being either 65 years of age or older or being fully disabled, and living in a one-to-four-unit residential dwelling.

Currently, the program requires residents to apply through a process, which can be found at https://gvimes.link/seniorwater and residents can call the Commissioner’s collection department at 617-989-7070.

But hearing sponsor and District 2 City Councilor Ed Flynn and District 4 City Councilor Brian Worrell said they want to make that an automatic discount when residents are enrolled in senior tax exemption programs.

“We all know that costs are rising and our seniors are living on fixed incomes, so it feels like a double burden for our seniors,” Worrell said. “I think this is an opportunity for us to simplify access for the opt-in program and strategy.”

Worrell said the current program may not be as well-utilized as it could be, and auto-enrolling residents through the senior tax exemption program – https://gvimes.link/taxexemp – could be a way to help ensure no one is being left behind.

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“We know residents are currently qualifying for the senior tax exemption program,” he said. “So if you are enrolled in that senior tax exemption, then you should be automatically enrolled in this senior water and sewer discount program. This is just a way to modernize our systems, instead of having to print out a PDF to fill out and submit back to the City of Boston.”

Worrell said that the application process is basically like the city asking residents to tell the city what it, administratively, already knows.

“We already know who our seniors are, who owns homes, and then we also know through that senior tax program, the income limits,” he said. “Just looking forward to this conversation to find ways to modernize and simplify these programs.”

The tax exemption program allows for up to $1,000 off your tax bill if you qualify. Residents must be 65 or older as of July 1 of the corresponding fiscal year. They must have owned and occupied their home for the same time, the ownership interest must be at least $4,000, you must have lived in Massachusetts for the preceding 10 years, your income must not exceed $25,980 single/$38,970 married, and your estate – not including your property – can’t be valued at more than $40,000 single/$55,000 married.