Amendment ID: S2834-7

Amendment 7

Property tax cap for seniors

Messrs. Tarr and Fattman move that the proposed new text be amended by adding after section _ the following new section:-

SECTION _. Chapter 59 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after Section 5N the following section:-

Section 5O. (a) A city or town that accepts this section in the manner provided in section 4 of chapter 4, as so appearing, may impose a cap on property taxes for homeowners of the age of 70 or over; provided, that such homeowners have domiciled in the home as a primary residence for at least 10 consecutive years and meet the following income and asset requirements for eligibility. If single, incomes of $100,000 or less, if married $150,000 or less and assets of $200,000 or less, not including the primary residence and 1 motor vehicle registered to the applicant. The board of assessors in such cities or towns shall calculate the assessments and tax rate changes of such qualified applicants on an annual basis with the lesser calculation prevailing as the property tax levy for that year.

(b) Following the sale or transfer of a qualified applicants property, a city or town which accepts the provisions of this section shall be entitled to collect a conveyance tax calculated by the standard property tax assessment for the qualified applicants property, less the amount assessed under this section for the previous year three years, or for the length of time in which the cap under subsection (a) was in effect, whichever is less. Said conveyance tax shall be due and payable by the homeowner at the time of transfer of the property by deed or other instrument of conveyance and shall be payable to the tax collector of the city or town in which the property is located. In the case of taking by eminent domain, the value of the property taken shall be determined in accordance with chapter 79, and the amount of conveyance tax, if any, shall be added to that amount.