By Geena Monahan–For the North Star Reporter
A residential property tax relief measure for the town’s seniors was passed unanimously by the Town Council on Wednesday, May 28.
This measure, which will form the basis of a Home Rule Petition to the Massachusetts Legislature, aims to provide targeted property tax relief to qualifying senior citizens.
“We’ve actually come up with what could become a model for the commonwealth to address imposing inflation and the burden that Proposition 2 ½ has on our seniors and our communities that live on fixed incomes,” said Town Manager Michael Borg.
Borg, along with the Financial Subcommittee, met four times to discuss the criteria on who will benefit from — and pay for — this exemption.
A similar measure for $1,000 in tax relief for seniors was put forth by Councilor Mark Gould in March, originally tied to the June 3 vote on a debt exclusion vote for a new high school. This separate tax measure is not connected to the debt exclusion vote.
According to the measure, the tax relief will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis for the initial 500 residents who apply. A resident must be at least 67 years old in order to apply and if filing with a co-applicant, that person must be at minimum 62 years old. Additional criteria states that a resident must own and occupy the qualifying residential property, and have owned a home in Massachusetts for at least 10 years consecutively prior to applying.
The amended measure that the council voted on saw lower income requirements than the original in hopes of reaching more seniors who need relief. The income criteria are as follows:
- Single applicants: $70,000 (down from $72,000)
- Head of household: $80,000 (down from $91,000)
- Joint applicants: $90,000 (down from $109,000)
In order to qualify, an applicant’s home must be valued at or less than the average assessed value of a single-family home in North Attleborough, which is currently $569,820. Council vice president and chair of the Finance Subcommittee John Simmons elaborated on how the subcommittee worked on this criteria to help seniors who need tax relief while not unfairly burdening the rest of the town’s homeowners.
“When we were creating this, we wanted to tie everything to a preexisting number or qualification. So we used Social Security, age, average home values; we didn’t want to just create numbers out of the blue,” said Simmons. “We wanted to tie it to something specific. If it doesn’t work, we have to look at this every single year. We can change every single piece of this every year.”
Applicants must apply annually, by Sept. 1, through the Board of Assessors and provide documentation of income and assets to remain eligible. Seniors who receive tax relief through the town’s senior work-off program will not be eligible for this new program, as the work-off provides $2,000 in tax relief.
The exemption will be funded through a residential tax classification shift within the tax levy, meaning all other residential homeowners will bear a slight tax increase, and no overlay funds will be used.
Borg stood in front of the council at the conference room’s white board to demonstrate the math behind the proposal, which showed that non-qualifying homeowners’ taxes will go up $11.25 per quarter, or $45 a year.
“Make no mistake, we are putting our hands in other people’s pockets to help, but $11.25 a quarter to effectuate close to $1,000 in tax relief for seniors, who in these situations need it, I’m willing to ask people to do that,” Simmons said.
Borg also provided a mock-up of what the tax relief amounts would look for, using an example of a qualifying senior who owned a home valued at $350,000. According to Borg’s calculations, this homeowner would receive a $978 property tax exemption.
Gould noted that while this measure was affordable and targeted, he questioned why three-family owners wouldn’t be eligible, and why the co-applicant’s qualifying age was reduced down from 65 to 62.
Gould also suggested changing the criteria for home values to 10% or 25% higher than the average value in order to help seniors who bought their house for a much lower price than the what it has appreciated to.
“I’m grateful for the time the Finance Committee, town manager and everyone has put into this,” said Gould. “I’m hoping to get meaningful tax relief to the seniors as soon as possible. If it’s this then okay, I’m not in love with it, but I won’t let perfect be the enemy of good.”
While councilors and Borg made it clear that this tax relief is no longer tied to the new high school vote, Project Director Tim Bonfatti spoke with the council earlier that evening to present the final numbers on the proposed new building. According to Bonfatti, the budget for the high school comes out to $287,861,09. After the $106,866,175 reimbursement from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the amount that taxpayers will vote on is $180,994,923.
Bonfatti also put up examples of what the tax increase would look like for homeowners throughout North Attleborough, showing that a house valued at $350,000 would see an increase of $596 a year, and a home valued at $550,000 would be $936 a year.
The measure will go into effect on July 1, 2026, for fiscal year 2027, and gives Borg the authority to begin the legal process of submitting a Home Rule Petition to the Legislature. It will have to be voted on from both the House of Representatives and Senate before receiving a final signature from Gov. Maura Healey.