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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 244 FILED ON: 1/7/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3105
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Carmine Lawrence Gentile and David F. DeCoste
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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 relative to the establishment of a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Carmine Lawrence Gentile13th Middlesex1/7/2025David F. DeCoste5th Plymouth1/13/2025Michelle L. Badger1st Plymouth1/14/2025Steven J. Ouellette8th Bristol1/15/2025Kelly W. Pease4th Hampden1/14/2025James C. Arena-DeRosa8th Middlesex2/11/2025Colleen M. Garry36th Middlesex1/25/2025Joseph D. McKenna18th Worcester1/28/2025Danillo A. Sena37th Middlesex1/31/2025 1 of 4
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 244 FILED ON: 1/7/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3105
By Representatives Gentile of Sudbury and DeCoste of Norwell, a petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 3105) of Carmine Lawrence Gentile, David F. DeCoste and others relative to the
establishment of a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption. Revenue.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE HOUSE, NO. 2809 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act relative to the establishment of a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption.
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, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby
2amended by inserting after section 5N the following section:-
3 Section 5O. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following
4meanings:--
5 “Parcel”, a unit of real property as defined by the assessors of the city or town under the
6deed for the property, including a condominium unit.
7 “Income”, taxpayer’s total income for the purposes of the circuit breaker income tax
8credit, as defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62. 2 of 4
9 (b) In any city or town that accepts the provisions of this section, with respect to each
10qualifying parcel of real property classified as Class one, residential there shall be an exemption
11from the property tax equal to the total amount of tax that would otherwise be assessed without
12this exemption less the sum of: (i) 10 per cent of income, or such other percentage of income as
13determined under subsection (d); and (ii) the circuit breaker income tax credit under subsection
14(k) of section 6 of chapter 62 the applicant was eligible to receive in the year prior to the
15application being filed. In no event shall property taxes be reduced by more than 50 per cent by
16this exemption.
17 (c) The board of assessors may deny an application for an exemption pursuant to this
18section if they find the applicant has excessive assets that place them outside of the intended
19recipients of the senior exemption created by this section. Real property shall qualify for the
20exemption under subsection (b) if all of the following criteria are met:
21 (1) the real property is owned and occupied by a person whose prior year’s income did
22not exceed the income limit established in clause (i) of paragraph (3) of subsection (k) of section
236 of chapter 62 and adjusted pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter
2462 for the prior year, whichever such income limit applies to the individual’s filing status;
25 (2) the real property is owned by a single applicant age 65 or older at the close of the
26previous year or jointly by persons either of whom is age 65 or above at the close of the previous
27year and if the joint applicant is 60 years of age or older;
28 (3) the real property is owned and occupied by the applicant or joint applicants as their
29domicile; 3 of 4
30 (4) the applicant or at least 1 of the joint applicants has been domiciled in the city or town
31for at least 10 consecutive years before filing an application for the exemption;
32 (5) the maximum assessed value of the domicile does not exceed (i) the prior year’s
33average assessed value of a single family residence for the city or town plus 10 per cent; and (ii)
34the valuation limit established in clause (ii) of paragraph (3) of subsection (k) of section 6 of
35chapter 62 and adjusted pursuant to paragraph (4) of said subsection (k) of said section 6 of said
36chapter 62 for the prior year; and
37 (6) the board of assessors has approved the application.
38 (d) The exemption under subsection (b) shall be in addition to any other exemption
39allowable under the General Laws; provided, however that there shall be a dollar cap on all the
40exemptions granted pursuant to this section equal to .5 per cent of the fiscal year’s total
41residential property tax levy for the city or town, including the levy for any regional high school
42if not included in the city’s or town’s tax levy at some subsequent date with the total exemption
43amount granted by this section allocated proportionally within the tax levy on all residential
44taxpayers. After the first year of such exemption, the total cap on the exemptions granted
45pursuant to this section shall be set annually by the board of selectmen, in the case of a town, the
46city manager, in the case of a city under a Plan E form of government, or the city council, in the
47case of all other cities, within a range of .5 to 1 per cent of the residential property tax levy for
48the city or town, including the levy for any regional high school. In the event that benefits to the
49applicants may be limited because the percentage established annually by the selectmen, city
50manager or city council would otherwise be exceeded, the benefits shall be allocated by raising
51the income percentage as required in subsection (b) as necessary to not exceed the cap. In the 4 of 4
52event the cap exceeds the need for the exemption, the total cap on the exemptions granted by this
53section shall be reduced to meet the need.
54 (e) A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption under subsection (b) shall, before the
55deadline established by the board of assessors, file an application, on a form to be adopted by the
56board of assessors, with the supporting documentation of the applicant’s income and assets as
57described in the application. The application shall be filed each year for which the applicant
58seeks the exemption.
59 (f) No exemption shall be granted under this section until the department of revenue
60certifies a residential tax rate for the applicable tax year where the total exemption amount is
61raised by a burden shift within the residential tax levy.
62 (g) The exemption under this section shall expire every three years after its acceptance or
63re-acceptance; provided, however, that a city or town which has accepted this section may re-
64accept this section for additional 3-year intervals by a vote of the legislative body of said city or
65town.