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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1275 FILED ON: 1/18/2023 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2835 |
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| 4 | 4 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 5 | 5 | | _________________ |
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| 6 | 6 | | PRESENTED BY: |
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| 7 | 7 | | Steven S. Howitt |
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| 8 | 8 | | _________________ |
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| 9 | 9 | | To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General |
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| 10 | 10 | | Court assembled: |
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| 11 | 11 | | The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill: |
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| 12 | 12 | | An Act relative to a senior citizen volunteer property tax reduction. |
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| 13 | 13 | | _______________ |
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| 14 | 14 | | PETITION OF: |
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| 15 | 15 | | NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Steven S. Howitt4th Bristol1/18/2023Kelly W. Pease4th Hampden1/31/2023Joseph D. McKenna18th Worcester1/31/2023 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 1275 FILED ON: 1/18/2023 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2835 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Howitt of Seekonk, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 2835) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Steven S. Howitt, Kelly W. Pease and Joseph D. McKenna for legislation to establish a senior |
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| 20 | 20 | | citizen volunteer property tax reduction. Revenue. |
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| 21 | 21 | | [SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEE HOUSE, NO. 2947 OF 2021-2022.] |
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| 23 | 23 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 24 | 24 | | _______________ |
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| 25 | 25 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 26 | 26 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 27 | 27 | | _______________ |
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| 28 | 28 | | An Act relative to a senior citizen volunteer property tax reduction. |
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| 29 | 29 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 30 | 30 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 31 | 31 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 59 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, |
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| 32 | 32 | | 2is hereby amended by inserting, after section 5N, the following new section:- |
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| 33 | 33 | | 3 Section 5O. In any city or town which accepts this section, the board of selectmen of a |
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| 34 | 34 | | 4town, or in a municipality having a town council form of government, the town council or the |
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| 35 | 35 | | 5mayor, with the approval of the city council in a city, may establish a program to allow senior |
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| 36 | 36 | | 6citizens over the age of 70 to volunteer to provide services to that city or town. In exchange for |
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| 37 | 37 | | 7such volunteer services, the city or town shall reduce the real property tax obligations of that |
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| 38 | 38 | | 8senior on the individual's tax bills and that reduction shall be in addition to any exemption or |
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| 39 | 39 | | 9abatement to which that person is otherwise entitled; provided, however, that person shall not |
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| 40 | 40 | | 10receive a rate of, or be credited with, more than the current minimum wage of the commonwealth 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 11per hour for the services provided pursuant to that reduction; and provided further, that the |
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| 42 | 42 | | 12reduction of the real property tax bill shall not exceed $1,000 in a given tax year. It shall be the |
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| 43 | 43 | | 13responsibility of the city or town to maintain a record for each taxpayer including, but not limited |
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| 44 | 44 | | 14to, the number of hours of service and the total amount by which the real property tax has been |
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| 45 | 45 | | 15reduced and to provide a copy of that record to the assessor in order that the actual tax bill reflect |
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| 46 | 46 | | 16the reduced rate. A copy of that record shall also be provided to the taxpayer prior to the issuance |
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| 47 | 47 | | 17of the actual tax bill. The cities and towns shall have the power to create local rules and |
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| 48 | 48 | | 18procedures for implementing this section in a way that is consistent with the intent of this |
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| 49 | 49 | | 19section. Nothing in this section shall be construed to permit the reduction of workforce or |
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| 50 | 50 | | 20otherwise replace existing staff. |
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| 51 | 51 | | 21 The amount by which a person's property tax liability is reduced in exchange for the |
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| 52 | 52 | | 22volunteer services shall not be considered income, wages or employment for purposes of taxation |
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| 53 | 53 | | 23as provided in chapter 62, for the purposes of withholding taxes as provided in chapter 62B, for |
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| 54 | 54 | | 24the purposes of workers' compensation as provided in chapter 152 or any other applicable |
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| 55 | 55 | | 25provisions of the General Laws. While providing such volunteer services, that person shall be |
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| 56 | 56 | | 26considered a public employee for the purposes of chapter 258 and those services shall be deemed |
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| 57 | 57 | | 27employment for the purposes of unemployment insurance as provided in chapter 151A. |
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| 58 | 58 | | 28 A city or town, by vote of its legislative body, subject to its charter, may adjust the |
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| 59 | 59 | | 29exemption in this clause by: (i) allowing an approved representative for persons physically |
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| 60 | 60 | | 30unable to provide such services to the city or town; or (ii) allowing the maximum reduction of |
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| 61 | 61 | | 31the real property tax bill to be based on 125 volunteer service hours in a given tax year, rather |
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| 62 | 62 | | 32than $1,000. |
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