HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4474        FILED ON: 9/5/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4081

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Sean Garballey and Cindy F. Friedman

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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 authorizing the town of Arlington to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4474        FILED ON: 9/5/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4081

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act authorizing the town of Arlington to establish 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:
 

SECTION 1.  With respect to each qualifying parcel of real property classified as class one, residential in the town of Arlington there shall be an exemption from the property tax in an amount to be set annually by the select board subject to the criteria provided in section 2. The exemption shall be applied to the domicile of the taxpayer only. For the purposes of this act, “parcel” shall be a unit of real property as defined by the board of assessors under the deed for the property and shall include a condominium unit. The exemption provided for herein shall be in addition to any and all other exemptions allowed under the General Laws. Property taxes shall not be reduced by more than 50 per cent by this exemption.

SECTION 2. Real property shall qualify for the exemption under section 1 if all of the following criteria are met:

(a)the qualifying real property is owned and occupied by a person whose prior year’s income would make the person eligible for the circuit breaker income tax credit under subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws;

(b)the qualifying real property is owned by a single applicant age 65 or older as of July 1 of the applicable fiscal year, or jointly by persons either of whom is age 65 or above as of July 1 of the applicable fiscal year provided that the other joint applicant is 60 years of age or older;

(c)the qualifying real property is owned and occupied by the applicant or joint applicants as their domicile;

(d)the maximum assessed value of the domicile is no greater than the prior year’s maximum assessed value for qualification for the circuit breaker income tax credit pursuant to subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws as adjusted annually by the department of revenue; and

(e)the board of assessors has approved the application for the exemption.

SECTION 3. Notwithstanding sections 1 and 2, the board of assessors may set a policy to deny an application for the exemption established in section 1 if they find the applicant has excessive assets that place them outside of the intended recipients of the senior exemption created by this act.

SECTION 4. The select board shall annually set the exemption amount provided for in section 1, provided that the amount of the exemption shall be within a range of 50 per cent to 200 per cent, inclusive, of the amount of the circuit breaker income tax credit under subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws for which the applicant qualified for in the previous year. The total amount exempted by this act shall be allocated proportionally within the tax levy on all taxpayers and shall not exceed 1 per cent of the town’s tax levy.

SECTION 5. A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption under section 1 shall, before the deadline established by the board of assessors, file an application, on a form to be adopted by the board of assessors, with the supporting documentation of the applicant’s income and assets as described in the application. The application shall be filed each year for which the applicant seeks the exemption.

SECTION 6. No exemption shall be granted under this act until the department of revenue certifies a residential tax rate for the applicable tax year where the total exemption amount is raised by a burden shift within the tax levy.

SECTION 7. Acceptance of this act by the town of Arlington shall be by an affirmative vote of a majority of the voters at any regular or special election at which the question of acceptance is placed on the ballot. Sections 1 to 6, inclusive, and section 8 shall take effect 30 days after an affirmative vote by the town as herein provided, but not otherwise.

SECTION 8. This act may be revoked by an affirmative vote of a majority of the voters at any regular or special town election at which the question of revocation is placed on the ballot. Revocation shall take effect 30 days after an affirmative vote by the town.