05/04/2015 Annual Town Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Article 21 To see if the Town will vote to accept the provisions of General Laws Chapter 59, §5, Clause Forty-First D which increases annually the amounts of the gross receipts and whole estate, real and personal, as set forth in clauses Forty-First, Forty-First B, and Forty-First C of said Section 5, by an amount equal to the increase in the Consumer Price Index published by the Unites States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, for such year; said adjustments to be effective for exemptions granted for any fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2015, or take any other action relating thereto. Submitted by the Board of Assessors Explanation: This article would annually adjust the Senior Tax Exemption income and asset qualification for low income seniors by the Federal Cost of Living Adjustment. This will help maintain parity with seniors' income and the exemption of qualification criteria in future years. The Board of Selectmen recommends approval by a vote of 5-0. The Finance Committee recommends approval by a vote of 6-0, 1 absent. Motion made by Selectman Carol Sherman. Motion: I move the Town vote to approve Article 21 as printed in the Warrant, with the exception of the phrase "or take any other action relating thereto." Motion passes unanimously at 8:18 PM. Article 22 To see if the Town will vote to accept the provisions of General Laws Chapter 59, §5, Clause Twenty-Second F, as amended by Section 12 of Chapter 62 of the Acts of 2014, which authorizes the real estate tax exemptions available to certain veterans pursuant to clauses Twenty-Second, Twenty-Second A, Twenty-Second B, Twenty-Second C, Twenty-Second D, Twenty-Second E, and Twenty-Second F to be granted to otherwise eligible persons who have resided in the Commonwealth for one (1) year prior to the date of filing for exemptions pursuant to the applicable clause; said adjustments to be effective for exemptions granted for any fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2015, or take any other action relating thereto. Submitted by the Board of Assessors Explanation: This article would change the Disabled Veteran Exemption's residency requirement from five years to one year, as many other communities have done. Currently, before receiving an exemption, a veteran must either have lived in Massachusetts for six months before entering the service or lived in the Commonwealth for five years before being eligible to receive an exemption. Every year, one or two veterans are denied their exemption because of the current five-year requirement. The Board of Selectmen recommends approval by a vote of 5-0. 22