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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1616 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1842
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Adam Gomez
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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 creating a local option property tax cap for low-income seniors.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Adam GomezHampdenAdam Scanlon14th BristolJames B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester2/17/2023 1 of 2
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1616 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1842
By Mr. Gomez, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1842) of Adam Gomez, Adam
Scanlon and James B. Eldridge for legislation to create a local option property tax cap for low-
income seniors. Revenue.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act creating a local option property tax cap for low-income seniors.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 Chapter 59 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 5N the
2following section:-
3 Section 5O. A city or town that accepts this section in the manner provided in section 4 of
4chapter 4 may impose a cap on property taxes for homeowners of the age of 65 or over;
5provided, that such homeowners shall meet the following income and asset requirements for
6eligibility, if single incomes of $50,000 or less, if married $60,000 or less and assets of $75,000
7or less not including the primary residence and l motor vehicle registered to the applicant.
8 The assessments and tax rate changes of such homeowner qualified properties shall be
9recalculated on an annual basis. The lesser of the calculations shall prevail as the property tax
10levy for that year. For the purpose of this exemption, income means the “adjusted gross income”
11for federal income tax purposes as reported on the applicant’s latest available federal or state
12income tax return for the applicable income tax year, subject to any subsequent amendments or 2 of 2
13revisions, reduced by distributions, to the extent included in federal adjusted gross income,
14received from an individual retirement account and an individual retirement annuity; provided,
15that if no such return was filed for the application income tax year, income means the adjusted
16gross income that would have been so reported if such a return had been filed.