[Adopted 5-12-2021 by Bill No. 2021-044]
With respect to each qualifying parcel of real property classified as class one, residential in the City of Amesbury there shall be an exemption from the property tax in an amount to be set annually by the City Council as provided in § 411-5. The exemption shall be applied to the domicile (i.e., primary residence) of the taxpayer only. For the purposes of this article, "parcel" shall be a unit of real property as defined by the Board of Assessors under the deed for the property and shall include a condominium unit. The exemption provided for herein shall be in addition to any and all other exemptions allowed by the General Laws.
Real property shall qualify for the exemption under § 411-3 if all of the following criteria are met:
A. 
The qualifying real property is owned and occupied by a person who qualified and received the circuit breaker income tax credit the previous year under MGL c. 62, § 6(k);
B. 
The qualifying real property is owned by a single applicant age 65 or older at the close of the previous year or jointly by persons either of whom is age 65 or above at the close of the previous year and if the joint applicant is 60 years of age or older;
C. 
The qualifying real property is owned and occupied by the applicant or joint applicants as their domicile;
D. 
The applicant or at least one of the joint applicants has been domiciled and owned a home in the City of Amesbury for at least the 10 consecutive years preceding the filing of an application for the exemption;
E. 
The maximum prior year assessed value of the domicile is no greater than the prior year's maximum assessed value for qualification for the circuit breaker income tax credit under MGL c. 62, § 6(k) as adjusted annually by the Department of Revenue; and
F. 
The Board of Assessors has approved the application.
The City of Amesbury's Board of Assessors shall annually set the exemption amount provided for in § 411-3 at 150% of the amount of the circuit breaker income tax credit under MGL c. 62, § 6(k) for which the applicant received in the previous year.
A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption under § 411-3 shall, before the deadline established by the Board of Assessors, file an application, on a form to be adopted by the Board of Assessors, with the supporting documentation of the filed income tax return of the applicant showing they circuit breaker tax credit. The application shall be filed each year for which the applicant seeks the exemption.
Exemptions shall be granted from the overlay account for the applicable fiscal year.
The Mayor is authorized to file a home rule petition with the State Legislature if such a step is needed to implement this article.
This article shall take effect in the next fiscal year after passage of any home rule petition, if required. If no home rule petition is required, then it will become effective in the fiscal year following its passage locally.
The annual limit for this program shall be $200,000 but not less than $100,000. The limit may be increased by an order approved by Council and the Mayor in any subsequent year.