HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 279        FILED ON: 1/8/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2879

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act to ensure the integrity of municipal tax rates..

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.  Notwithstanding the provisions of any general law, rule or regulation to the contrary, the department of revenue not certify the tax rate of any municipality or town whose budget is balanced predicated on the collection of outstanding taxes owed that have gone uncollected for the past 5 years or older. No uncollected tax liability shall be allowed to be carried on the books and listed as an asset if the community has not reached a payment plan agreement within 2 years after it is originally delinquent.

The department of revenue shall require communities that submit budgets balanced by the collection of outstanding taxes show progress on such collection of that outstanding liability in one year and each subsequent year the payment plan is in place. The department of revenue shall establish a method in determining what sort of progress communities have undertaken to reduce their outstanding taxes owed before allowing them to be included as an asset on their municipal or town tally sheet.

The department of revenue shall develop and establish an emergency response team (ERT) which will assist communities that have been placed on the DOR’s Watch List to review spending practices and offer assistance in managing financial operations of said community.