Legislation authorizing a Senior Circuit Breaker tax exemption

Annual Town Meeting, May 2018

This warrant article directly addresses the problem that a growing number of Brookline homeowners aged 65 and older with low or modest incomes are no longer able to qualify for the Massachusetts Circuit Breaker Income Tax Credit ("CB") that was expressly enacted to provide an annual tax credit (currently up to $1,080) to qualifying senior homeowners with low or modest incomes whose Massachusetts property taxes (plus half the cost of their water and sewer fees) exceed 10% of their total gross income. These Brookline senior homeowners are no longer eligible for the CB - no matter how low their income - solely because the assessed valuation of their Brookline residence exceeds the statutory qualification cap, which is based on a statewide average of the assessed values of all single-family residences in the commonwealth.

While Brookline's residential real estate values have been increasing 5-10% each year during the past decade, residential real estate values in other parts of the state have plummeted, and, as a result, the CB assessed valuation qualification amount is now lower than what it was 10 years ago. As a result, fewer and fewer Brookline seniors have been filing CB claims since 2009, even though Brookline's senior population has increased by 28% during the same period. Brookline's rapidly escalating property tax burden due to recent and likely future tax overrides will create an even greater hardship for Brookline senior homeowners with low or modest incomes who would have otherwise qualified for the CB tax credit.

The proposed program would work as follows: If a Brookline senior homeowner meets all the requirements and qualifications of the CB (see below for an itemized list) except that their principal residence, which they must own and which must be located in Brookline, has an assessed valuation that is greater than the CB qualifying amount - and that principal residence has an assessed valuation of not more than the average of all Brookline single-family residences plus 10% (the same formula used by the CB on a statewide basis) - then the Town will grant to the senior an exemption from their Brookline residence's property tax assessment in the amount of the CB credit for which they would otherwise qualify if their Brookline residence had an assessed valuation at or below the CB's qualifying amount.

This proposed warrant article would correct a serious unfairness to these Brookline seniors, would provide a helping hand to a number of needy Brookline senior homeowners who will be facing substantial increases in their property tax bills due to override costs, and would be relatively simple to implement (the applicant would only need to provide a copy of their federal and state tax returns and a completed CB worksheet). I estimate that about 25-50 Brookline seniors might qualify, and that it would probably cost the Town no more than about $55,000.

Favorable Action