Session Laws

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to immediately provide for the efficient collection of real estate taxes, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.

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. Section 24B of chapter 36 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1988 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the third paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

Said register or assistant recorder shall require from each person who appears before him to record a deed to real property, such information as the commissioner of revenue may deem necessary to assist the assessors in the performance of their duties under sections eleven and thirty-eight of chapter fifty-nine. Said information shall be collected on a form approved by the commissioner of revenue and each completed form shall be forwarded by said register or assistant recorder to the board of assessors of the city or town in which the property lies.

SECTION 2. Section 56 of chapter 40 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the first sentence the following sentence:- Once certified, a city or town may classify in the manner set out in this section for the year of certification and for the two years next following said year of certification.

SECTION 3. Section 61A of chapter 59 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- A person applying for an abatement of a tax on real estate or personal property shall, upon request, exhibit to the assessors the property to which the application for abatement relates and if required by said assessors, shall exhibit and identify such property, and further, shall, upon request, furnish under oath such written information as may be reasonably required by the board of assessors to determine the actual fair cash valuation of the property to which the application for abatement relates including, but not limited to, income and rents received, and the expenses of maintaining such property.

SECTION 4. Section thirty-five of chapter fifty-nine of the General Laws is hereby repealed.

SECTION 5. Said chapter 59 is hereby further amended by striking out section 63, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

Section 63. Assessors shall, within ten days after their decision on an application for an abatement, send written notice thereof to the applicant. If the assessors fail to take action on such application for a period of three months following the filing thereof, they shall, within ten days after such period, send the applicant written notice of such inaction. Said notice shall indicate the date of the decision or the date the application is deemed denied as provided in section sixty-four, and shall further state that appeal from such decision or inaction may be taken as provided in sections sixty-four to sixty-five B, inclusive.

SECTION 6. Section 64 of said chapter 59, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 3 and 4, the words "receiving the notice" and inserting in place thereof the words:- the date.

SECTION 7. Section 65 of said chapter 59, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 5, the words "receiving the notice" and inserting in place thereof the words:- the date.

SECTION 8. Section 65C of said chapter 59, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 4, the words "notify the applicant of such inaction in writing" and inserting in place thereof the words:- send written notice of such inaction to the applicant.