Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H3979 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. 4505 FILED ON: 3/14/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3979
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Kate Lipper-Garabedian
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 authorizing the City of Melrose to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax
13	13	exemption.
14	14	_______________
15	15	PETITION OF:
16	16	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Kate Lipper-Garabedian32nd Middlesex3/14/2025 1 of 3
17	17	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4505 FILED ON: 3/14/2025
18	18	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 3979
19	19	By Representative Lipper-Garabedian of Melrose, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
20	20	3979) of Kate Lipper-Garabedian (with the approval of the mayor and city council) that the city
21	21	of Melrose be authorized to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption in said
22	22	city. Revenue. [Local Approval Received.]
23	23	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
24	24	_______________
25	25	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
26	26	(2025-2026)
27	27	_______________
28	28	An Act authorizing the City of Melrose to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax
29	29	exemption.
30	30	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
31	31	of the same, as follows:
32	32	1 SECTION 1. With respect to each qualifying parcel of real property classified as class
33	33	2one, residential in the city of Melrose there shall be an exemption from the property tax in an
34	34	3amount as provided for in section 3.
35	35	4 The exemption shall be applied to the domicile of the taxpayer only. For the purposes of
36	36	5this act, “parcel” shall be a unit of real property as defined by the board of assessors of the city
37	37	6under the deed for the property and shall include a condominium unit. The exemption provided
38	38	7for herein shall be in addition to any and all other exemptions allowed by the General Laws.
39	39	8 SECTION 2. Real property shall qualify for the exemption pursuant to section 1 if all of
40	40	9the following criteria are met: (1) the qualifying real property is owned and occupied by a person
41	41	10whose prior year’s income would make the person eligible for the circuit breaker income tax
42	42	11credit pursuant to subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws; (2) the 2 of 3
43	43	12qualifying real property is owned by a single applicant age 65 or older at the close of the
44	44	13previous year or jointly by persons either of whom is age 65 or above at the close of the previous
45	45	14year, if the joint applicant is 60 years of age or older; (3) the qualifying real property is owned
46	46	15and occupied by the applicant or joint applicants as their domicile; (4) the applicant or at least 1
47	47	16of the joint applicants has been domiciled and owned a home in the city of Melrose for at least
48	48	1710 consecutive years before filing an application for the exemption; (5) the assessed value of the
49	49	18domicile is no greater than the prior year’s maximum assessed value for qualification for the
50	50	19circuit breaker income tax credit pursuant to said subsection (k) of said section 6 of said chapter
51	51	2062, as adjusted annually by the department of revenue; and (6) the board of assessors has
52	52	21approved the application.
53	53	22 SECTION 3. The exemption amount provided for in section 1 above shall be one
54	54	23hundred percent of the circuit breaker income tax credit pursuant to subsection (k) of section 6 of
55	55	24chapter 62 of the General Laws for which the applicant qualified in the previous year. The total
56	56	25amount exempted by this act shall be allocated proportionally within the tax levy on all
57	57	26residential taxpayers.
58	58	27 SECTION 4. A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption pursuant to section 1 shall,
59	59	28before the deadline established by the board of assessors, file an application, on a form to be
60	60	29adopted by the board of assessors, with the supporting documentation of the applicant’s income
61	61	30and assets as described in the application. The application shall be filed each year for which the
62	62	31applicant seeks the exemption. The board of assessors of the city of Melrose may deny an
63	63	32application for an exemption pursuant to section 1 if they find the applicant has excessive assets
64	64	33that place the applicant outside the category of intended recipients of the senior exemption
65	65	34created by this act. 3 of 3
66	66	35 SECTION 5. No exemption shall be granted under this act until the department of
67	67	36revenue certifies a residential tax rate for the applicable tax year where the total exemption
68	68	37amount is raised by a burden shift within the residential tax levy.
69	69	38 SECTION 6. This act shall take effect immediately upon passage, and shall replace
70	70	39Chapter 100 of the Acts of 2022. This act shall be repealed after 3 years of implementation of
71	71	40this exemption.