HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3074        FILED ON: 1/16/2025

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3258

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Justin Thurber

_________________

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 to cap the amount by which a senior's property tax can increase.

_______________

PETITION OF:

 

Name:

District/Address:

Date Added:

Justin Thurber

5th Bristol

1/16/2025

Patrick Joseph Kearney

4th Plymouth

1/17/2025

John R. Gaskey

2nd Plymouth

1/17/2025


HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3074        FILED ON: 1/16/2025

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3258

By Representative Thurber of Somerset, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3258) of Justin Thurber, Patrick Joseph Kearney and John R. Gaskey relative to property tax increases for seniors.  Revenue.

 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)

_______________

 

An Act to cap the amount by which a senior's property tax can increase.

 

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. Chapter 59 of the General Laws, as most recently amended by section 3 of chapter 50 of the acts of 2023, is hereby further amended by inserting after section 5O the following new section:-

Section 5P. With respect to each parcel of real property classified as Class One, residential, in each city or town certified by the commissioner to be assessing all property at its full and fair cash valuation, and at the option of the board of selectmen or mayor, with the approval of the city council or local legislative body, may require that for a person who has reached his sixty-fifth birthday prior to the fiscal year for which the property is assessed and occupied by said person as his domicile, or of a person who owns the same jointly with his spouse, that the assessed tax value of such real property may not increase more than a maximum of two and one-half per cent over the previous year’s tax assessment. Such assessment under this section shall be inclusive of any special local tax overrides or increases for the fiscal year. In order to qualify for this section the taxpayer must have been domiciled in the commonwealth for the preceding ten years and has so owned and occupied such real property in the commonwealth for five years, prior to the assessment of taxes in the current tax year.