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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1120 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2096
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
John C. Velis
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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 :John C. VelisHampden and HampshireSal N. DiDomenicoMiddlesex and Suffolk2/26/2025Michael O. MooreSecond Worcester3/6/2025 1 of 4
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1120 FILED ON: 1/15/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2096
By Mr. Velis, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2096) of John C. Velis, Sal N.
DiDomenico and Michael O. Moore for legislation to establish a means tested senior citizen
property tax exemption. Revenue.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 1894 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 SECTION 1. Section 5 of chapter 59 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020
2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “household”, in line 1124, the
3following words:- or $80,000, whichever is greater.
4 SECTION 2. Said chapter 59 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 5N the
5following section:-
6 Section 5O. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following
7meanings:-
8 “Parcel”, a unit of real property as defined by the assessors of the city or town under the
9deed for the property, including a condominium unit. 2 of 4
10 “Income”, taxpayer’s total income for the purposes of the circuit breaker income tax
11credit, as defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62.
12 (b) In any city or town that accepts the provisions of this section, with respect to each
13qualifying parcel of real property classified as Class one, residential there shall be an exemption
14from the property tax equal to the total amount of tax that would otherwise be assessed without
15this exemption less the sum of: (i) 10 per cent of income, or such other percentage of income as
16determined under subsection (d); and (ii) the circuit breaker income tax credit under subsection
17(k) of section 6 of chapter 62 the applicant was eligible to receive in the year prior to the
18application being filed. In no event shall property taxes be reduced by more than 50 per cent by
19this exemption.
20 (c) The board of assessors may deny an application for an exemption pursuant to this
21section if they find the applicant has excessive assets that place them outside of the intended
22recipients of the senior exemption created by this section. Real property shall qualify for the
23exemption under subsection (b) if all of the following criteria are met:
24 (1) the real property is owned and occupied by a person whose prior year’s income did
25not exceed the income limit established in clause (i) of paragraph (3) of subsection (k) of section
266 of chapter 62 and adjusted pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter
2762 for the prior year, whichever such income limit applies to the individual’s filing status;
28 (2) the real property is owned by a single applicant age 65 or older at the close of the
29previous year or jointly by persons either of whom is age 65 or above at the close of the previous
30year and if the joint applicant is 60 years of age or older; 3 of 4
31 (3) the real property is owned and occupied by the applicant or joint applicants as their
32domicile;
33 (4) the applicant or at least 1 of the joint applicants has been domiciled in the city or town
34for at least 10 consecutive years before filing an application for the exemption;
35 (5) the maximum assessed value of the domicile does not exceed (i) the prior year’s
36average assessed value of a single family residence for the city or town plus 10 per cent; and (ii)
37the valuation limit established in clause (ii) of paragraph (3) of subsection (k) of section 6 of
38chapter 62 and adjusted pursuant to paragraph (4) of said subsection (k) of said section 6 of said
39chapter 62 for the prior year; and
40 (6) the board of assessors has approved the application.
41 (d) The exemption under subsection (b) shall be in addition to any other exemption
42allowable under the General Laws; provided, however that there shall be a dollar cap on all the
43exemptions granted pursuant to this section equal to .5 per cent of the fiscal year’s total
44residential property tax levy for the city or town, including the levy for any regional high school
45if not included in the city’s or town’s tax levy at some subsequent date with the total exemption
46amount granted by this section allocated proportionally within the tax levy on all residential
47taxpayers. After the first year of such exemption, the total cap on the exemptions granted
48pursuant to this section shall be set annually by the board of selectmen, in the case of a town, the
49city manager, in the case of a city under a Plan E form of government, or the city council, in the
50case of all other cities, within a range of .5 to 1 per cent of the residential property tax levy for
51the city or town, including the levy for any regional high school. In the event that benefits to the
52applicants may be limited because the percentage established annually by the selectmen, city 4 of 4
53manager or city council would otherwise be exceeded, the benefits shall be allocated by raising
54the income percentage as required in subsection (b) as necessary to not exceed the cap. In the
55event the cap exceeds the need for the exemption, the total cap on the exemptions granted by this
56section shall be reduced to meet the need.
57 (e) A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption under subsection (b) shall, before the
58deadline established by the board of assessors, file an application, on a form to be adopted by the
59board of assessors, with the supporting documentation of the applicant’s income and assets as
60described in the application. The application shall be filed each year for which the applicant
61seeks the exemption.
62 (f) No exemption shall be granted under this section until the department of revenue
63certifies a residential tax rate for the applicable tax year where the total exemption amount is
64raised by a burden shift within the residential tax levy.
65 (g) The exemption under this section shall expire every three years after its acceptance or
66re-acceptance; provided, however, that a city or town which has accepted this section may re-
67accept this section for additional 3-year intervals by a vote of the legislative body of said city or
68town.