AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF BROOKLINE TO ESTABLISH A MEANS-TESTED SENIOR CITIZEN PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION
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 Brookline, there shall be an exemption from the property tax equal to the total amount of the tax that would otherwise be assessed without this exemption less the sum of: (i) 10 per cent of the total annual qualifying income for purposes of the circuit breaker income tax credit under subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws; and (ii) the amount of the circuit breaker income tax credit under said subsection (k) of said section 6 of said chapter 62 the applicant was eligible to receive in the year prior to the application being filed. The percentage of total annual qualifying income may be raised pursuant to section 3. In no event shall this exemption reduce property taxes by more than 50 per cent of the property taxes due after the application of the town's residential exemption. The exemption shall be applied to the domicile of the taxpayer only. For the purposes of this act, “parcel” shall be a unit of real property as defined by the town of Brookline board of assessors under the deed of the property and shall include a condominium unit.
SECTION 2. The town of Brookline board of assessors may deny an application if they find the applicant has excessive assets that place them outside of the intended recipients of the senior exemption created by this act; provided, however, that for the purposes of this act, what constitutes “excessive assets” shall be determined by guidelines set by the select board. Real property shall qualify for the exemption under section 1 only if: (i) the qualifying real property is owned and occupied by a person whose prior year's income would make the person eligible for the circuit breaker income tax credit under subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws;
(ii) the qualifying real property is owned by a single applicant 65 years of age or older at the close of the previous year or jointly by persons either of whom is 65 years of age or older at the close of the previous year and if the 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 or at least 1 of the joint applicants has been domiciled in the town of Brookline for not less than 10 consecutive years before filing an application for the exemption;
(v) the maximum assessed value of the domicile is not greater than the prior fiscal year's median assessed value of a residential parcel in the town of Brookline assigned state use code 101 as a single-family home and state code 102 as a condominium plus 10 per cent; and
(vi) the board of assessors has approved the application.
SECTION 3. The exemption under section 1 shall be in addition to any other exemption allowable under the General Laws, except that there shall be a dollar cap on all the exemptions granted by this act equal to 0.25 per cent of the fiscal year's total residential property tax levy for the town of Brookline with the total exemption amount granted by this act allocated proportionately within the tax levy on all residential taxpayers. After the first year of such exemption, the total cap on the exemptions granted by this act shall be set annually by the select board within a range of 0.25 to 1 per cent of the residential property tax levy for the town of Brookline. If benefits to the applicants may be limited because the percentage established annually by the select board would otherwise be exceeded, the benefits shall be allocated by raising the total annual qualifying income percentage as required in section 1 as necessary to not exceed the cap. If the cap exceeds the need for the exemption, any undistributed amounts collected shall be returned to the town.
SECTION 4. A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption under section 1 shall, before the deadline established by the town of Brookline 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.
SECTION 5. No exemption shall be granted under this act for any year if an applicant otherwise meets all the qualifications in sections 1 to 4, inclusive, and all the qualifications of the town of Brookline's senior tax deferral program for that year, including obtaining the written approval by all persons having a legal interest in the applicant's parcel as required by the town’s tax deferral and recovery agreement. Applicants shall, in good faith, seek to qualify for the town’s senior tax deferral program. A finding that an applicant has not done so, or has during the 60 months prior to applying for the property tax exemption, affirmatively taken steps in order to not qualify for the town’s senior tax deferral program, shall be grounds for denying the property tax exemption provided by this act.
SECTION 6. This act, or only section 5, may be revoked by an affirmative vote of a majority of town meeting members at any annual or special town meeting. Any such revocation shall take effect 30 days after an affirmative vote of town meeting.
SECTION 7. No exemption shall be granted under this act until the department of revenue certifies a residential tax rate for the applicable tax year where the total exemption amount is raised by a burden shift within the residential tax levy.
SECTION 8. The board of assessors of the town of Brookline shall report to town meeting and provide an assessment of the program established by this act after this act has been in operation in the town for 24 months.
Approved, January 5, 2023.