FILED ON: 1/18/2024

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4262

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 Lincoln to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption program.

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. As used in this act, the following words shall, unless the context requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-

"Town", the town of Lincoln.

"Parcel", a unit of real property as defined by the assessors of the town under the deed for the property, including a condominium unit.

"Income", taxpayer's total income, as defined in paragraph (1) of subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws, for the purpose of the circuit breaker income tax credit.

SECTION 2.  With respect to each qualifying parcel of real property classified as class one, residential in the town there shall be an exemption from the property tax equal to the total amount of tax that would otherwise be assessed without this exemption less the sum of: (i) 10 per cent of income, or such other percentage of income as determined under section 4; and (ii) the circuit breaker income tax credit under subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws the applicant was eligible to receive in the year prior to the application being filed.  In no event shall property taxes be reduced by more than 50 per cent by this exemption.

SECTION 3.  The board of assessors may deny an application for an exemption pursuant to this act if they find the applicant has excessive assets that place them outside of the intended recipients of the senior exemption created by this act.  Real property shall qualify for the exemption under section 2 if all of the following criteria are met:

(i)  the real property is owned and occupied by a person whose prior year's income did not exceed the income limit established in clause (i) of paragraph (3) of subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws and adjusted pursuant to paragraph (4) of said subsection (k) of said section 6 of said chapter 62 for the prior year, whichever such income limit applied to the individual's filing status;

(ii)  the real property is owned and occupied 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;

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

(iv)  the applicant or at least 1 of the joint applicants has been domiciled in the town for at least 5 consecutive years before filing an application for the exemption;

(v)  the maximum assessed value of the domicile does not exceed the average value, plus 10 per cent, of all single-family dwelling units in the town; and

(vi) the board of assessors has approved the application.

SECTION 4.  The exemption under section 2 shall be in addition to any other exemption allowable under the General Laws; provided, however that there shall be a dollar cap on all the exemptions granted pursuant to this act equal to .5 per cent of the fiscal year's total property tax levy for the town, including the levy for any regional high school if not included in the town's tax levy at some subsequent date with the total exemption amount granted by this act allocated proportionally within the tax levy of all residential taxpayers.  After the first year of such exemption, the total cap on the exemptions granted pursuant to this act shall be set annually by the select board, within a range of .5 to 1 per cent of the residential property tax levy for the town including the levy for any regional high school.  In the event that benefits to the applicants may be limited because the percentage established annually by the select board would otherwise be exceeded, the benefits shall be allocated by raising the income percentage as required in section 2 as necessary to not exceed the cap.  In the event the cap exceeds the need for the exemption, the total cap on the exemptions granted by this act shall be reduced to meet the need.

SECTION 5.  A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption under section 2 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 residential tax levy.

SECTION 7.  The exemption under this act shall expire 3 years after its acceptance pursuant to section 8; provided, however, that the town may re-accept the exemption for additional 3-year terms by a vote of town meeting.

SECTION 8. Sections 1 to 7, inclusive, shall take effect upon acceptance by an affirmative vote of the town meeting of the town convened subsequent to passage of this act, but not otherwise.

SECTION 9. Section 8 shall take effect upon passage of this act.