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