Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H2810 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. 1313 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2810
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Carmine Lawrence Gentile and Alice Hanlon Peisch
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 authorizing the town of Lincoln to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax
13	13	exemption program.
14	14	_______________
15	15	PETITION OF:
16	16	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex1/18/2023Alice Hanlon Peisch14th Norfolk1/20/2023Michael J. BarrettThird Middlesex1/20/2023 1 of 4
17	17	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1313 FILED ON: 1/18/2023
18	18	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2810
19	19	By Representatives Gentile of Sudbury and Peisch of Wellesley, a petition (accompanied by bill,
20	20	House, No. 2810) of Carmine Lawrence Gentile, Alice Hanlon Peisch and Michael J. Barrett (by
21	21	vote of the town) that the town of Lincoln be authorized to establish a means tested senior citizen
22	22	property tax exemption program in said town. Revenue. [Local Approval Received.]
23	23	[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
24	24	SEE HOUSE, NO. 4107 OF 2021-2022.]
25	25	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
26	26	_______________
27	27	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
28	28	(2023-2024)
29	29	_______________
30	30	An Act authorizing the town of Lincoln to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax
31	31	exemption program.
32	32	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
33	33	of the same, as follows:
34	34	1 a. As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:
35	35	2 "town", shall be the Town of Lincoln, Massachusetts, Middlesex County.
36	36	3 "Parcel", a unit of real property as defined by the assessors of the town under the deed for
37	37	4the property, including a condominium unit.
38	38	5 "Income", taxpayer's total income for the purpose of the circuit breaker income tax credit,
39	39	6as defined in the paragraph (1) of subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62.
40	40	7 b. With respect to each qualifying parcel of real property classified as Class one,
41	41	8residential in the town there shall be an exemption from the property tax equal to the total 2 of 4
42	42	9amount of tax that would otherwise be assessed without this exemption less the sum of: (i) 10 per
43	43	10cent of income, or such other percentage of income as determined under subsection (d); and (ii)
44	44	11the circuit breaker income tax credit under subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 the applicant
45	45	12was eligible to receive in ther year prior to the application being filed. In no event shall property
46	46	13taxes be reduce by more than 50 percent by this exemption.
47	47	14 c. The board of assessors may deny an application for an exemption pursuant to this
48	48	15section if they find the applicant has excessive assets that place them outside of the intended
49	49	16recipients of the senior exemption created by this section. Real property shall qualify for the
50	50	17exemption under subsection (b) if all of the following criteria are met:
51	51	18 1. the real property is owned and occupied by a person whose prior year's income did not
52	52	19exceed the income limit established in clause (i) of paragraph (3) of subsection (k) of section 6 of
53	53	20chapter 62 and adjusted pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 for
54	54	21the prior year, whichever such income limit applied to the individual's filing status;
55	55	22 2. the real property is owned and occupied by a signle applicant age 65 or older at the
56	56	23close of the previous year or jointly by persons either of whom is age 65 or above at the close of
57	57	24the previous year and if the joint applicant is 60 years of age, or older;
58	58	25 3. the real property is owned and occupied by the applicant or joint applicants as their
59	59	26domicile;
60	60	27 4. the applicant or at least 1 of the joint applicants has been domiciled in the town of
61	61	28Lincoln for at least 5 consecutive years before filing an application for the exemption; 3 of 4
62	62	29 5. the maximum assessed value of the domicile does not exceed the average value, plu
63	63	3010%, of all single-family dwelling units in the Town of Lincoln
64	64	31 6. the board of assessors has approved the application.
65	65	32 d. The exemption under subsection (b) shall be in addition to any other exemption
66	66	33allowable under the Genderal Laws; provided, however that there shall be a dollar cap on all the
67	67	34exemptions granted pursuant to this section equal to .5 percent of the fiscal year's total property
68	68	35tax levy for the town, including the levy for any regional high school if not included in the town's
69	69	36tax levy at some subsequent date with the total exemption amount granted by this section
70	70	37allocated proportionally within the tax levy of all residential taxpayers. After the first year of
71	71	38such exemption, the total cap on the exemptions granted pursuant to this section shall be set
72	72	39annually by the bord of selectmen, within a range of 0.5 to 1.0 percent of the residential property
73	73	40tax levy for the town including the levy for any regional high school. In the event that benefits to
74	74	41the applicants may be limited because the percentage established annually by the selectmen
75	75	42would otherwise be exceeded, the benefits shall be allocated by raising the income percentage as
76	76	43required in subsection (b) as necessary to not exceed the cap. In the event the cap exceeds the
77	77	44need for the exemption, the total cap on the exemptions granted by this section shall be reduced
78	78	45to meet the need.
79	79	46 e. A person who seeks to qualify to qualify for the exemption under subsection (b) shall,
80	80	47before the deadline established by the board of assessors, file an application, on a form to be
81	81	48adopted by the board of assessors, with the supporting documentation of the applicant's incmome
82	82	49and assets as described in the application. The application shall be filed each year for which the
83	83	50applicant seeks the exemption. 4 of 4
84	84	51 f. No exemption shall be granted under this section until the department of revenue
85	85	52certifies a residential tax rate for the applicable tax year where the total exemption amount is
86	86	53raised by a burden shift within the residential tax levy.
87	87	54 g. the exemption under this section shall expire every three years after its acceptance or
88	88	55re-acceptance; provided, however, that the town may re-accept this section for additional 3-year
89	89	56intervals by a vote of Town Meeting.