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| 2 | 2 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3074 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 3 | 3 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3258 |
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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 | | Justin Thurber |
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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 to cap the amount by which a senior's property tax can increase. |
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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:Justin Thurber5th Bristol1/16/2025Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth1/17/2025John R. Gaskey2nd Plymouth1/17/2025 1 of 2 |
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| 16 | 16 | | HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3074 FILED ON: 1/16/2025 |
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| 17 | 17 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3258 |
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| 18 | 18 | | By Representative Thurber of Somerset, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3258) of |
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| 19 | 19 | | Justin Thurber, Patrick Joseph Kearney and John R. Gaskey relative to property tax increases for |
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| 20 | 20 | | seniors. Revenue. |
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| 21 | 21 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 22 | 22 | | _______________ |
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| 23 | 23 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court |
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| 24 | 24 | | (2025-2026) |
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| 25 | 25 | | _______________ |
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| 26 | 26 | | An Act to cap the amount by which a senior's property tax can increase. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 28 | 28 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 29 | 29 | | 1 SECTION 1. Chapter 59 of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 3 of |
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| 30 | 30 | | 2chapter 50 of the acts of 2023, is hereby further amended by inserting after section 5O the |
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| 31 | 31 | | 3following new section:- |
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| 32 | 32 | | 4 Section 5P. With respect to each parcel of real property classified as Class One, |
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| 33 | 33 | | 5residential, in each city or town certified by the commissioner to be assessing all property at its |
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| 34 | 34 | | 6full and fair cash valuation, and at the option of the board of selectmen or mayor, with the |
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| 35 | 35 | | 7approval of the city council or local legislative body, may require that for a person who has |
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| 36 | 36 | | 8reached his sixty-fifth birthday prior to the fiscal year for which the property is assessed and |
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| 37 | 37 | | 9occupied by said person as his domicile, or of a person who owns the same jointly with his |
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| 38 | 38 | | 10spouse, that the assessed tax value of such real property may not increase more than a maximum |
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| 39 | 39 | | 11of two and one-half per cent over the previous year’s tax assessment. Such assessment under this |
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| 40 | 40 | | 12section shall be inclusive of any special local tax overrides or increases for the fiscal year. In 2 of 2 |
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| 41 | 41 | | 13order to qualify for this section the taxpayer must have been domiciled in the commonwealth for |
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| 42 | 42 | | 14the preceding ten years and has so owned and occupied such real property in the commonwealth |
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| 43 | 43 | | 15for five years, prior to the assessment of taxes in the current tax year. |
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