Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H5006 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. 5302 FILED ON: 8/7/2024
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 5006
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	John Barrett, III
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 establishing a means tested senior property tax exemption in the town of Williamstown.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:John Barrett, III1st Berkshire8/7/2024 1 of 4
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5302 FILED ON: 8/7/2024
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 5006
18	18	By Representative Barrett of North Adams, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 5006) of
19	19	John Barrett, III (by vote of the town) for legislation to establish a means tested senior property
20	20	tax exemption in the town of Williamstown. Revenue. [Local Approval Received.]
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
24	24	(2023-2024)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act establishing a means tested senior property tax exemption in the town of Williamstown.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. There shall be an exemption from the property tax for each qualifying
30	30	2parcel of real property classified as class one, residential in the town of Williamstown in an
31	31	3amount to be set annually by the select board as provided in section 3. The exemption shall be
32	32	4applied only to the domicile of the taxpayer; provided, however, that for the purposes of this act,
33	33	5“parcel” shall mean a unit of real property as defined by the board of assessors under the deed for
34	34	6the property and shall include a condominium unit. The exemption provided for in this act shall
35	35	7be in addition to any and all other exemptions allowed by the General Laws.
36	36	8 SECTION 2. The board of assessors in the town of Williamstown may deny an
37	37	9application if they find the applicant has excessive assets that place the applicant outside of the
38	38	10intended recipients of the exemption under this act. Real property shall qualify for the exemption
39	39	11in section 1 if: 2 of 4
40	40	12 (i)The qualifying real property is owned and occupied by a person whose prior
41	41	13year’s income would make the person eligible for the circuit breaker income tax credit under
42	42	14subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws;
43	43	15 (ii)The qualifying real property is owned: (a) by a single applicant not less than 65
44	44	16years of age at the close of the previous year; or (b) jointly by persons either of whom is not less
45	45	17than 65 years of age at the close of the previous year and the other joint applicant is not less than
46	46	1860 years of age;
47	47	19 (iii)The qualifying real property is owned and occupied by the applicant or joint
48	48	20applicant as their domicile;
49	49	21 (iv)The applicant or at least 1 of the joint applicants has been domiciled and owned a
50	50	22home in the town for not less than 5 consecutive years before filing an application for the
51	51	23exemption;
52	52	24 (v)The maximum assessed value of the qualifying property is no greater than the
53	53	25town’s median single-family assessed value of the prior fiscal year plus 10 per cent; and
54	54	26 (vi)The board of assessors has approved the application
55	55	27 SECTION 3. The select board of the town of Williamstown shall annually set the
56	56	28exemption amount under section 1 up to 150 per cent of the amount of the circuit breaker income
57	57	29tax credit under subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws for which the
58	58	30applicant qualified in the previous year. The total amount exempted by this act shall be allocated
59	59	31proportionally within the tax levy on all residential taxpayers. 3 of 4
60	60	32 SECTION 4. The exemption under section 1 shall be in addition to any other exemption
61	61	33allowable under the General Laws, except that there shall be a dollar cap on the total exemptions
62	62	34granted pursuant to this act of up to 1.0 per cent of the fiscal year’s total residential property tax
63	63	35levy for the town of Williamstown, including the levy for the regional high school if not included
64	64	36in the town’s tax levy at some subsequent date, with the total exemption amount granted
65	65	37pursuant to this act allocated proportionally within the tax levy on all residential taxpayers. The
66	66	38total cap on the exemptions granted pursuant to this act shall be set annually by the select board
67	67	39within a range of up to 1 per cent, inclusive, of the residential property tax levy for the town. If
68	68	40benefits to the applicants may be limited because the cap on exemptions established annually by
69	69	41the select board would otherwise be exceeded, the limitation on benefits shall be allocated pro
70	70	42rata among the qualifying applicants.
71	71	43 SECTION 5. A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption under section 1 shall,
72	72	44before the deadline established by the board of assessors of the town of Williamstown, file an
73	73	45application, on a form to be adopted by the board, with supporting documentation relative to the
74	74	46applicant’s income and assets as described in the application. The application shall be filed each
75	75	47year for which the applicant seeks the exemption.
76	76	48 SECTION 6. No exemption shall be granted under this act until the department of
77	77	49revenue certifies a residential tax rate for the applicable tax year where the total exemption
78	78	50amount is raised by a burden shift within the residential tax levy.
79	79	51 SECTION 7. This act may be revoked by an affirmative vote of a majority of the voters
80	80	52of the town at any regular or special town election at which the question of revocation is placed 4 of 4
81	81	53on the ballot. Revocation shall take effect 30 days after an affirmative vote of the town to revoke
82	82	54those sections unless the vote designates a different date.
83	83	55 SECTION 8. This act shall take effect upon its passage.