AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE WESTBOROUGH BOARD OF ASSESSORS TO APPROVE ADDITIONAL TAX EXEMPTIONS OF QUALIFYING SENIOR RESIDENTS
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. With respect to each qualifying parcel of real property classified as class one, residential in the town of Westborough there shall be an exemption from property tax in an amount to be set annually by the board of assessors as provided in section 3. The exemption shall be applied to the domicile of the taxpayer only. For purposes of this act, “parcel” shall be a unit of real property as defined by the board of assessors under the deed for the property and shall include parcels defined as condominium units. The exemption provided for in this act shall be in addition to any and all other exemptions allowed pursuant to the General Laws.
SECTION 2. Real property shall qualify for the exemption pursuant to section 1 if the following criteria are met:
(i) the qualifying real property is owned and occupied by a person whose prior year’s income made them eligible for, and who did receive, the circuit breaker income tax credit pursuant to subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws;
(ii) the qualifying real property is owned: (A) by a single applicant who is 65 years of age or older at the close of the previous year; or (B) jointly if 1 of the joint applicants is 65 years of age or older at the close of the previous year and the other joint applicant is 60 years of age or older;
(iii) the qualifying real property is owned and occupied by the applicant or joint applicants as their domicile;
(iv) the applicant has been domiciled and owned a home in the town of Westborough for at least 10 consecutive years before filing an application for exemption;
(v) the maximum assessed value of the domicile is not greater than 10 per cent above the town’s average single-family residential assessed value of the prior fiscal year; and
(vi) the board of assessors has approved the application.
SECTION 3. The board of assessors shall annually set the exemption amount provided for in section 1; provided, however that the exemption amount shall be set at a rate of not less than 50 per cent but not more than 100 per cent of the amount of the senior circuit breaker income tax credit pursuant to subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws for which the applicant qualified in the previous year. The total amount exempted by this act shall not exceed 1 per cent of the total tax levy.
SECTION 4. A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption pursuant to section 1 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. The board of assessors may deny an application for exemption pursuant to said section 1 if they find the applicant has excessive assets that place the applicant outside the category of intended recipients of the senior exemption created by this act.
SECTION 5. A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption pursuant to section 1, but also receives a tax deferral pursuant to clause forty-first A of section 5 of chapter 59 of the General Laws, shall have their eligibility reviewed by the board of assessors to determine the amount of circuit breaker credit.
SECTION 6. The exemption provided in this act shall expire after 3 years of implementation, which shall begin in fiscal year 2024; provided, however, that the town may reauthorize the exemption for additional 3-year intervals by a vote of the legislative body of the town.
Approved, January 5, 2023.