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The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE TAXATION OF CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:


Chapter 59 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 2C the following section:-

Section 2D. (a) In any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section pursuant to subsection (f), whenever in any fiscal year real estate improved in assessed value by over 50 per cent by new construction is issued a temporary or permanent occupancy permit after January 1 in any year, the owner of the real estate shall pay a pro rata amount or amounts, as herein defined, to the city or town where such real estate is located that would have been due for the applicable fiscal year under this chapter if the real estate had been so improved on the assessment date for the fiscal year in which the occupancy permit issued. The amounts payable to the city or town shall be determined as follows:

(1) A real estate tax based on the assessed value of the improvement for the fiscal year in which such improvement and issuance of an occupancy permit occurred allocable on a pro rata basis to the days remaining in the fiscal year from the date of the issue of the occupancy permit to the end of the fiscal year; and

(2) A real estate tax based on the assessed value of the improvement for the succeeding fiscal year where the occupancy takes place between January 1 and June 30 of any year.

(b) A real estate tax based on the assessed value of the improvement shall be computed by applying the tax rate or the appropriate classified tax rate of the city or town for the fiscal year in which such improvement and issuance of an occupancy permit occurs to the assessed value of the improvement as if the real estate had been so improved on January first of the year of occupancy.

(c) Such amounts shall be paid by the property owner to the collector of the city or town within 30 days of the date of issuance by said city or town of a notification of such liability to said property owner or the date by which a tax assessed upon real estate would otherwise be payable without interest for the applicable fiscal year, whichever is later. Any amount not paid by the said date shall bear interest from the said date at the rate per annum provided in section 57. The collector shall have for the collection of sums assessed under this section all remedies provided by chapter 60 for the collection of taxes upon real estate.

(d) A person upon whom a tax has been assessed pursuant to the provisions of this section shall have all remedies provided by section 59 and section 64 of chapter 59 and all other applicable provisions of the General the abatement and appeal of taxes upon real estate.

(e) Whenever in any fiscal year, the assessed value of real estate is decreased by over 50 per cent as the result of fire or natural disaster, the city or town shall abate or refund taxes received, as the case may be, in an amount to be calculated in the same manner as a real estate tax increase, based on the assessed value of an improvement, is calculated pursuant to the provisions of this section.

(f) The local appropriating authority, as defined in section 21C, may submit to the voters at any city or town election the following question, which the city or town clerk shall cause to be printed on the municipal ballot: "Shall the (city or town) accept section 2D of chapter 59 of the General Laws, which provides for taxing certain improved real property based on its value at the time an occupancy permit is issued?" If a majority of the votes cast on said question is in the affirmative, the city or town shall be deemed to have accepted this section, but not otherwise.

Approved July 31, 1998.