By Ms. Wolf of Cambridge (by request), petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 3168) of Althea Buckley, Timothy J. Toomey, Jr. and Anne M. Gobi for legislation to require certain endowed not-for-profit institutions to pay property taxes in the cities and towns of the Commonwealth.  Revenue.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PETITION OF:

Althea Buckley

Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.

Anne M. Gobi

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In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.

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An Act to require nonprofit institutions with large endowments to pay property taxes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

fSECTION 1.  Chapter 59 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after section 4 the following section:─

Section 4A

(1) Any not-for-profit institution that has accumulated more than $500,000,000 in an endowment or net worth, or any combination of the two, shall not be exempt from real estate taxes.

(2) Income received in the form of property taxes from said institutions shall be paid into a fund designated to lower the real estate tax burden of low- and moderate-income residents.  The state treasurer shall deposit and invest monies in said fund in accordance with sections 34, 34A and 38 of chapter 29 of the General Laws, as so appearing, in such a manner as to secure the highest rate of return available consistent with the safety of the fund.   All revenue derived from the investment of amounts in the fund shall be credited to the fund and expended solely for the purpose of assisting of low- and moderate-income residents with their property taxes.

(3) Property taxpayers currently residing in their dwellings who have to pay more than 15 per cent of their income in property taxes shall be eligible for assistance from the fund.  Additionally, elderly and disabled residents who meet the requirements for federal SSDI funding shall also be eligible for assistance from the fund.   The appellate tax board shall enact rules and regulations to implement this section.

(4) Property taxpayers who file a petition for abatement with the appellate tax board may file along with the petition for abatement a request for fund moneys to help cover the tax assessment.   The appellate tax board shall consider such request for funds and determine if the taxpayer meets the criteria under subparagraph (3).   If the taxpayer does not meet the criteria under subparagraph (3), the appellate tax board may award the taxpayer moneys from the fund if the board concludes, after considering all relevant facts, that the taxpayer is entitled to monetary assistance to help cover the real property tax assessment.