Melrose mayor urges committee to approve means-tested senior property tax exemption

Melrose Mayor Jen Gregoritis asked the Joint Committee on Revenue to report favorably on House 3979, a home-rule petition that would authorize the City of Melrose to establish a means-tested senior citizen property tax exemption tied to the Massachusetts senior circuit breaker tax credit.

The exemption, Gregoritis told the committee, has delivered property tax relief to “209 senior households, most for multiple years,” after the City Council adopted the local measure in March 2021 and the program began in fiscal year 2023. “The property tax exemption is a key tool in promoting and sustaining Melrose's affordability,” she said.

Mayor Gregoritis asked the committee to support the bill so the city can continue allowing qualifying seniors who claim the state senior circuit breaker credit on their income tax returns to receive a local property tax exemption. She said the measure was unanimously approved by the Melrose City Council on Feb. 18 and promptly filed in the House by Representative Kate Lipper-Garabedian.

Committee members asked for additional details about program size and savings. Mayor Gregoritis said the program averages about 209 households per year in a community of about 30,000 residents and that per-household savings are “to the tune of between several hundred and a thousand dollars,” but that she did not have exact figures available at the hearing.

The committee’s hearing packet listed 10 bills to be considered that day on voluntary contributions, sales tax, property tax and economic development. Speakers were permitted three minutes for oral testimony and invited to submit written testimony to the committee website through the posted deadline.

No formal committee vote or direction was recorded on HB 3979 during the hearing.