Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. The first paragraph of section 5D of chapter 59 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1986 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the third and fourth sentences and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences:- Whenever a city or town in which such land is located shall have made a general revaluation or reassessment of all of its real property for purposes of taxation, the valuation of such land for the purpose of payments authorized by this section shall be determined by the assessors of said city or town as of January first, between January first and June first, in the year succeeding such revaluation or reassessment by dividing the amount of the payment authorized by this section for the year last preceding the revaluation or reassessment by the commercial class tax rate of said city or town for the year of the revaluation or reassessment, so that the payment with respect to such land shall remain substantially the same as that made prior to such revaluation or reassessment. The city, town or district owning such land or the division of watershed management of said commission and the metropolitan water and sewer authority, if aggrieved by the determination of the assessors, may within six months after written notice thereof appeal to the appellate tax board.

SECTION 2. The first paragraph of section 5F of said chapter 59, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the fourth and fifth sentences and inserting in place thereof the following three sentences:- Whenever a city or town in which such land is located shall be certified by the commissioner as assessing property at full and fair cash valuation under the provisions of section fifty-six of chapter forty, the valuation of such land shall be determined by the assessors of the municipality in which such land is located as of January first of the year of such certification subject to the commissioner's determination, under the provisions of section one A of chapter fifty-eight and subsection (c) of section two A of this chapter, that said valuations are at full and fair cash valuation. The valuations so determined shall be used for the purpose of payments authorized by this section in the year succeeding such determination and the following years thereafter. The division of watershed management of the metropolitan district commission or the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority or the holding municipality or district, if aggrieved by the determination of the assessors, may within six months after written notice thereof appeal to the appellate tax board.

SECTION 3. Section 5G of said chapter 59, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the fourth, fifth and sixth sentences and inserting in place thereof the following three sentences:- Whenever a city or town in which such land is located shall have made a general revaluation or reassessment of all of its real property for purposes of taxation, the valuation of such land for the purpose of payments authorized by this section shall be determined by the assessors of said city or town as of January first, between January first and June first, in the year succeeding such revaluation or reassessment by dividing the amount of the payment authorized by this section for the year last preceding the revaluation or reassessment by the commercial class tax rate of said city or town for the year of the revaluation or reassessment, so that payment with respect to such land shall remain substantially the same as that made prior to such revaluation or reassessment; provided, however, that notwithstanding any other provision of this section, the valuation of such land, held by and for the division of watershed management, for the purpose of payments in lieu of taxes pursuant to this section, shall be determined by the commissioner of revenue in accordance with the provisions of sections thirteen to seventeen, inclusive, of chapter fifty-eight. In no event shall any city or town receive an amount less than the payment received from the metropolitan district commission in the prior fiscal year. The city, town, district, or authority owning such land, or said division of watershed management, if aggrieved by the determination of the assessors, may within six months after written notice thereof appeal to the appellate tax board.

SECTION 4. Section 16 of chapter 121B of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

Whenever a city or town in which such real estate is located shall have made a general revaluation or reassessment of its real property for purposes of taxation, the valuation of such real estate shall be determined by the assessors of said city or town as of January first, in the year succeeding such revaluation or reassessment, by dividing the amount of the payment authorized by this section for the year last preceding the revaluation by the residential class tax rate of said city or town for the year of the revaluation, so that the payment with respect to such land shall remain substantially the same as that made prior to such revaluation or reassessment. The operating agency, if aggrieved by the determination of the assessors, may within six months after written notice thereof appeal to the appellate tax board.