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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1688 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1939
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Joanne M. Comerford
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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 to reform payments in lieu of taxes for state-owned land.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Joanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and Worcester 1 of 4
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1688 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1939
By Ms. Comerford, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1939) of Joanne M. Comerford
for legislation to reform payments in lieu of taxes for state-owned land. Revenue.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 1769 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 to reform payments in lieu of taxes for state-owned land.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 13 of chapter 58 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of “Reimbursement
3percentage”.
4 SECTION 2. Section 15 of said chapter 58, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
5striking out, in lines 6 and 7, the words “reimbursement percentages”.
6 SECTION 3. Section 16 of said chapter 58, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
7striking out, in lines 2 and 3, the words “reimbursement percentage”.
8 SECTION 4. Said chapter 58 is hereby further amended by striking out section 17, as so
9appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:- 2 of 4
10 Section 17. Annually, not later than November 20, the state treasurer shall reimburse each
11city and town in which state-owned land is located, an amount in lieu of taxes upon the value of
12such land as reported by the commissioner under section 16, determined by multiplying each
13$1,000 of valuation, or fractional part thereof, by the rate and in an amount provided for at a rate
14equal to the average of the annual rates for the 3 years preceding that in which such value is laid,
15said annual rates to be determined by an apportionment of the whole amount of money to be
16raised by taxation upon property in the commonwealth during each of the 3 preceding years, as
17returned by the assessors of each city and town under this section and approved by the
18commissioner, upon the aggregate valuation of all cities and towns for each of the 3 preceding
19years, as returned under section 10C; provided, however, that the amount reimbursed shall not be
20less than that paid in the prior year, except for the value of land removed from the annual
21statement of fair cash valuation.
22 SECTION 5. (a) Within one year of the effective date of this act, the department of
23revenue and the executive office of energy and environmental affairs shall jointly make
24recommendations in the form of legislation for amendments to sections 13 through 17, inclusive,
25of chapter 58 of the general laws, as amended by this act, to: (i) ensure the formula values the
26carbon storage and sequestration as well as other ecosystem services provided by natural and
27working lands, as defined in section 1 of chapter 21N of the general laws; and (ii) ensure
28reimbursements are sufficient to promote the natural and working lands and carbon sequestration
29goals in the roadmap plans required under section 5 of said chapter 21N. The recommendations
30shall consider: 3 of 4
31 (1) Providing additional reimbursements to municipalities based upon the amount of
32permanently protected open space, as defined by section 91 of chapter 209 of the acts of 2018, in
33that municipality; and
34 (2) Providing additional reimbursements to municipalities based upon the amount of
35forest cover within that municipality; and
36 (3) Providing additional reimbursements to municipalities for state-owned land that
37provides services for drinking water supplies, cold-water fisheries, endangered or threatened
38species, outdoor recreation, ecological integrity and landscape connectivity; and
39 (4) Providing additional reimbursements to municipalities with historically lower
40reimbursement percentages, to ensure the formula equitably values state-owned land in different
41geographic regions of the commonwealth; and
42 (5) Providing additional reimbursement tiers for municipalities with already high rates of
43state-owned land, so that the acquisition of additional state-owned land in those municipalities
44leads to a higher rate of reimbursement.
45 (b) Within 6 months of the effective date of this act, the department of revenue and the
46executive office of energy and environmental affairs shall hold a public hearing during which
47they shall present draft recommendations and, for not less than 30 days following the hearing,
48they shall accept public comment.
49 (c) The recommendations shall be submitted to the clerks of the house and senate, the
50joint committee on revenue, the joint committee on environmental and natural resources, the 4 of 4
51house and senate committees on ways and means and posted publicly on the website of the
52executive office of energy and environmental affairs.