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In 1978, the citizen's of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts adopted
a constitutional amendment authorizing the General Court to classify
real property into as many as four classes and to tax such classes
differently. In 1979, the General Court adopted an act that implemented
the desires of the citizens. The act enjoyed popular support as
a means to prevent the shifting of taxes from business property
onto residential property as a result of court-ordered revaluation's.
Classification does not raise additional dollars from the property
tax.
Preferential tax treatment for residential property is not required
but is, rather, a local option.
The Commissioner of Revenue supervises the implementation of property
classification. After the Commissioner has determined that a city
or town's assessed values represent full and fair cash values; the
assessors classify all real property according to use. Local elected
officials are then permitted to determine, within limits calculated
by the Commissioner, what percentage of the tax burden is to be
borne by each property class.
The determination as to whether to allocate the tax burden by class
is made annually. In a city, the decision to allocate tax burdens
in accordance with the law is made by the City Council, with the
approval of the Mayor; in a town, the Board of Selectmen makes the
decision at a public hearing.
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