AN ACT RELATIVE TO PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR RENTAL PROPERTIES IN THE TOWN OF TRURO RESTRICTED AS AFFORDABLE HOUSING
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. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a dwelling unit in the town of Truro that is occupied by an income-eligible household and rented for an amount not to exceed the fair market rent established by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, shall be exempt from taxation pursuant to chapter 59 of the General Laws.
SECTION 2. A household that leases and occupies an affordable dwelling unit shall, upon initial application and annually thereafter on September first, submit to the town of Truro or its agent documentation necessary to confirm the household’s eligibility for the dwelling unit. Dwelling units shall be rented to those meeting the guidelines for low-income or moderate-income families. For the purposes of this act, a low-income household shall have an income of less than 80 per cent of the median household income in the town of Truro, as established by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Barnstable Town Metropolitan Statistical Area. A moderate-income household shall have an income between 80 per cent and 120 per cent of the median household income in the town of Truro, calculated on the basis of the same area median income statistic as determined by the published income guidelines of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
SECTION 3. Maximum rents shall not exceed fair market rents established by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development for the period beginning October 1 of the most recent year. Property owners shall submit information on the rents to be charged to the town of Truro or its agent. Each year thereafter on the first day of September they shall submit information on annual rents charged and signed leases to the town or its agent. Forms for this purpose shall be provided.
SECTION 4. The exemption shall be equal to the tax otherwise owed on the property based on the assessed value of the property, including accessory dwelling units, multiplied by the square feet of the living space of all dwelling units on the property that are restricted to occupancy by low-income or moderate-income households, divided by the total square feet of structures on the property. For property with a single dwelling unit, the exemption allowed shall not exceed 50 per cent of the tax otherwise owed. For the purpose of determining the assessed value of the property, if by income approach to value, the assessment shall assume that all housing units are rented at fair market rents as determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. To be eligible for an exemption, the housing unit shall be leased to a low-income or moderate-income household at such rents for the entire fiscal year for which the exemption is sought.
SECTION 5. The date of determination as to the qualifying factors required by this act shall be the first day of September of each year.
SECTION 6. This act shall be submitted to the voters of the town of Truro at the next annual or special town election in the form of the following question which shall be placed upon the official ballot to be used at the election: “Shall an act passed by the General Court in the year 2014 entitled ‘An Act relative to property tax exemptions for rental properties in the town of Truro restricted as affordable housing’, be accepted?”
This act shall only take effect if a majority of the votes cast in answer to the question is in the affirmative.
Approved August 28, 2014.