Agenda Text
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Requesting an adjustment to the property exemption for seniors with respect to income and asset limits under MGL c59 s5(41C).
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Official Text
To the Honorable Board:
As you may recall, your Honorable Board upon my suggestion increased the base amount of the clause 41C exemption for seniors aged 65 or more from $750 to $1,000 at the last classification hearing in November 2014. This change will go into effect for FY 2016. However, we also have the ability to alter our income and asset limits by adopting an automatic increase based upon the cost of living adjustment (COLA) established each year by the Commissioner of Revenue. In fact, the Commissioner just set the FY 2016 COLA at 1.63%. If adopted, the impact can be viewed in the table below.
Current for FY 2015:
Income limits asset limits
Clause 41C (S) $20,000 (S) $40,000
(M) $30,000 (M) $55,000
Proposed for FY 2016 (+ 1.63%):
(S) $20,326 (S) $40,652
(M) $30,489 (M) $55,897
The asset limit within the clause 41C provision allows the applicant’s domicile to be excluded. Currently, we allow an exclusion of the value up to 3 dwelling units including the owner’s unit. Under 41C, this “whole estate exclusion” can be increased to no more than a four family dwelling. I would recommend that we increase the exclusion to 4 units.
Asset limits exclusion on domicile:
Current limit: 3 dwelling units
Proposed limit: 4 dwelling units
Proposed Board orders for the change to the income and asset limits and the whole estate exclusion are attached.
Respectfully Submitted,
Joseph A. Curtatone, Mayor