Lawmakers, advocates urge permanent and expanded property tax relief for Massachusetts seniors

At a hearing of the Joint Committee on Revenue in Boston, state lawmakers, municipal officials and senior advocates urged approval of several bills that would change how Massachusetts taxes older homeowners and people with disabilities.

Supporters told the committee the measures — including H.3968 to make senior and disability property tax exemptions permanent and H.3198 to raise and index the circuit-breaker credit thresholds and home-valuation limit — would help older residents on fixed incomes remain in their homes.

Representative MacGregor, speaking in support of H.3968, said, "Every year, seniors and persons with disabilities across the commonwealth are required to file for their property tax exemptions...By requiring seniors and persons with disabilities to annually file for these exemptions, we're allowing people to slip through the cracks by not refiling for the tax exemption." He asked the committee to report the bill favorably.

Nut graf: Witnesses described a mix of statewide and local proposals — permanent exemptions, higher and cost-of-living–indexed circuit-breaker limits, means-tested local exemptions, expanded local options for higher exemption amounts, and a revised property-tax deferral program — and said the changes are responses to rapidly rising home values and fixed incomes that are straining older…