Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H2798 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 152 FILED ON: 1/10/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2798
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	William C. Galvin
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act providing for a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:William C. Galvin6th Norfolk1/10/2023Francisco E. Paulino16th Essex1/13/2023Mathew J. Muratore1st Plymouth1/30/2023 1 of 3
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 152 FILED ON: 1/10/2023
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2798
18	18	By Representative Galvin of Canton, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2798) of
19	19	William C. Galvin, Francisco E. Paulino and Mathew J. Muratore relative to establishing local
20	20	option means-tested senior property tax exemptions. Revenue.
21	21	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
22	22	SEE HOUSE, NO. 2905 OF 2021-2022.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
26	26	(2023-2024)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act providing for a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1. In any city or town which accepts this section.
32	32	2 SECTION 2.With respect to each qualifying parcel of real property classified as class
33	33	3one, residential in the municipality there shall be an exemption from the property tax in an
34	34	4amount to be set annually by the Select Board or Mayor of the municipality as provided in
35	35	5section 3. The exemption shall be applied to the domicile of the taxpayer only. For the purposes
36	36	6of this act, “parcel” shall be a unit of real property as defined by the board of assessors under the
37	37	7deed for the property and shall include a condominium unit. The exemption provided for herein
38	38	8shall be in addition to any and all other exemptions allowed by the General Laws. 2 of 3
39	39	9 SECTION 3. The board of assessors may set a policy to deny an application if they find
40	40	10the applicant has excessive assets that place them outside of the intended recipients of the senior
41	41	11exemption created by this act. Real property shall qualify for the exemption under section 1 if all
42	42	12of the following criteria are met:
43	43	13 (a) The qualifying real property is owned and occupied by a person whose prior
44	44	14year’s income would make the person eligible for the circuit breaker income tax credit under
45	45	15section 6(k) of chapter 62 of the General Laws;
46	46	16 (b) The qualifying real property is owned by a single applicant age 65 or older as of
47	47	17July 1 of the applicable fiscal year or jointly by persons either of whom is age 65 or above as of
48	48	18July 1 of the applicable fiscal year and if the joint applicant is 60 years of age or older;
49	49	19 (c) The qualifying real property is owned and occupied by the applicant or joint
50	50	20applicants as their domicile;
51	51	21 (d) The applicant or at least 1 of the joint applicants has been domiciled and owned a
52	52	22home in the Municipality for at least 10 consecutive years before filing an application for the
53	53	23exemption;
54	54	24 (e) The maximum assessed value of the domicile is no greater than the prior year’s
55	55	25maximum assessed value for qualification for the circuit breaker income tax credit under Section
56	56	266(k) of chapter 62 of the General Laws as adjusted annually by the Department of Revenue; and
57	57	27 (f) Property taxes shall not be reduced to less than 11% of the circuit breaker income
58	58	28and by more than 50 per cent by this exemption
59	59	29 (g) The board of assessors has approved the application. 3 of 3
60	60	30 SECTION 4. The Select Board or Mayor shall annually set the exemption amount
61	61	31provided for in section 1, provided that the amount of the exemption shall be within a range of
62	62	32fifty per cent to two hundred per cent of the amount of the circuit breaker income tax credit
63	63	33under section 6(k) of chapter 62 of the General Laws for which the applicant qualified for in the
64	64	34previous year. The total amount exempted by this act shall be allocated proportionally within the
65	65	35tax levy on all taxpayers and can not exceed 1% of the municipalities tax Levy.
66	66	36 SECTION 5. A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption under section 1 shall,
67	67	37before the deadline established by the board of assessors, file an application, on a form to be
68	68	38adopted by the board of assessors, with the supporting documentation of the applicant’s income
69	69	39and assets as described in the application. The application shall be filed each year for which the
70	70	40applicant seeks the exemption.
71	71	41 SECTION 6. No exemption shall be granted under this act until the Department of
72	72	42Revenue certifies a residential tax rate for the applicable tax year where the total exemption
73	73	43amount is raised by a burden shift within the tax levy.