Senate advances two municipal property-tax relief measures to Ways and Means

The Massachusetts Senate reported two measures designed to soften sudden increases in municipal property tax bills and referred them to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means for further consideration.

Senator Tarr urged colleagues to expedite consideration of Senate Bill 1933 and Senate Bill 1935, saying one bill envisions a rebate process while the other creates a credit against tax liability for third- and fourth-quarter bills. "These measures offer the hope that we might mitigate that and address it," Tarr said during floor remarks urging rapid movement to Ways and Means.

The Committee on Rules initially reported the measures to the Senate. The clerk identified the first as a bill "to prevent property tax bill shocks," assigned Senate No. 1933, and described the second as Senate No. 1935; the transcript notes Senate 1933 was filed by the member occupying the chair and Senate 1935 was filed by a senator from Boston. Under Senate rules the presiding officer referred both measures to the Committee on Ways and Means.

No roll-call votes on the referral were recorded in the transcript; the referral proceeded under the chamber's procedural rules and by voice approval when indicated by the chair. The Committee on Ways and Means will determine whether to schedule either bill for hearings or markups.

If advanced out of committee, the bills would return to the Senate for further floor consideration; the transcript records only the committee referral and floor statements urging prompt action. The Senate then continued with other business and recessed briefly.