HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4196        FILED ON: 3/3/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3807

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Donald H. Wong and Kate Lipper-Garabedian

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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 Wakefield to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 4196        FILED ON: 3/3/2023

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3807

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)

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An Act authorizing the town of Wakefield 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 Wakefield there shall be an exemption from the property tax in the amount to be set annually by the board of assessors as provided in section 3.  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 by the General Laws.

SECTION 2.   The board of assessors may dent any application if they find the applicant has excessive assets that place the applicant outside the category of intended recipients of the senior exemption created by this act.  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 who's prior year's income would make the person eligible for the circuit breaker income tax credit under section 6(k) of chapter 62 of the General Laws: (b) The qualifying real property owned by a single applicant age 65 or older at the close of the previous year or jointly by persons either of whom is age 65 or above at the close of the previous year and if the 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 applicant or at least one of the joint applicants has been domiciled and owned a home in the Town of Wakefield for at least 10 consecutive years before filing an application for the exemption: (e) The 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 under section6(k) of chapter 62 of the General Laws as adjusted annually by the Department of Revenue: and (f) The board of assessors has approved the application.

SECTION 3.   The board of assessors shall annually set the exemption amount provided for in section 1, provided that the amount of the exemption shall be between 100% and 150% of the amount of the circuit breaker income tax credit under section6(k) of chapter 62 of the General Laws for which the applicant qualified in the previous year as determined by  the board of assessors.  The total amount exempted by this act shall be allocated proportionally within the tax levy on all residential taxpayers.

SECTION 4. 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 5.  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 residential tax levy.

SECTION 6.  This act shall expire after 3 years if implementation of the exemption: or to see what the Town will do about it.