AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF CARLISLE 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. There shall be an exemption from the property tax for each qualifying parcel of real property classified as Class One, residential in the town of Carlisle in an amount to be set annually by the select board as provided in section 3. The exemption shall be applied only to the domicile of the taxpayer; provided, however, that for the purposes of this act, "parcel" shall mean a unit of real property as defined by the board of assessors under the deed for the property and shall include a condominium unit. The exemption provided for in this act shall be in addition to any other exemptions allowed by the General Laws.
SECTION 2. The board of assessors in the town of Carlisle may deny an application if it finds that the applicant has excessive assets that place the applicant outside of the intended recipients of the exemption under this act. Real property shall qualify for the exemption under section 1 if:
(i) it 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) it is owned: (A) by a single applicant who is not less than 70 years of age at the close of the previous year; or (B) jointly by 2 persons, either of whom is not less than 70 years of age at the close of the previous year and the other is not less than 65 years of age;
(iii) it is owned and occupied by the applicant or joint applicants as their domicile;
(iv) the applicant or a qualifying joint applicant has been domiciled and owned a home in the town for not less than 10 consecutive years before filing an application for the exemption;
(v) the maximum assessed value of the real property that is the subject of the application is not greater than the prior year's maximum assessed value for qualification for the circuit breaker income tax credit under subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws as adjusted annually by the department of revenue;
(vi) it is owned and occupied by an applicant or joint applicants whose household assets are less than $500,000, excluding the value of the real property seeking to be qualified for the exemption; and
(vii) the board of assessors has approved the application.
SECTION 3. The select board of the town of Carlisle shall annually set the exemption amount under section 1 between 100 per cent and 200 per cent of the amount of the circuit breaker income tax credit under subsection (k) of section 6 of chapter 62 of the General Laws for which the applicant qualified in the previous year, set annually by the board of assessors. The total amount exempted by this act shall be allocated proportionally within the tax levy on all residential taxpayers.
SECTION 4. A person who seeks to qualify a parcel for exemption under section 1 shall, before the deadline established by the board of assessors of the town of Carlisle, file an application on a form to be adopted by the board, with supporting documentation relative to 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 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 6. This act shall expire 3 years after implementation of the exemption under this act.
Approved, December 19, 2024.