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Home My WebLink About2016-09-12 Special Town Meeting WarrantCOMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Middlesex, ss. Officer's Return, Reading By virtue of this Warrant, I, on August 23 , 2016 notified and warned the inhabitants of the Town of Reading, qualified to vote in Town elections and Town affairs, to meet at the place and at the time specified by posting attested copies of this Town Meeting Warrant in the following public places within the Town of Reading: Precinct 1 J. Warren Killam School, 333 Charles Street Precinct 2 Reading Police Station, 15 Union Street Precinct 3 Reading Municipal Light Department, 230 Ash Street Precinct 4 Joshua Eaton School, 365 Summer Avenue Precinct 5 Walter S. Parker Middle School, 45 Temple Street Precinct 6 Barrows School, 16 Edgemont Avenue Precinct 7 Birch Meadow School, 27 Arthur B Lord Drive Precinct 8 Wood End School, 65 Sunset Rock Lane Town Hall, 16 Lowell Stnset The date of posting being not less than fourteen (14) days prior to September 12, 2016, the date set for Town Meeting in this Warrant. I also caused a posting of this Warrant to be published on the Town of Reading website on August 23 , 2016. nmas YTiman Jr j , Constable A true coIme. Attest: o n Clerk TOWN WARRANT 49 COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS Middlesex, as. To any of the Constables of the Town of Reading, Greetings: In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby required to notify and wam the inhabitants of the Town of Reading, qualified to vote in elections and Town affairs, to meet at the Reading Memorial High School Performing Arts Center, 62 Oakland Road, in said Reading, on Monday, September 12, 2016, at seven -thirty o'clock in the evening, at which time and place the following articles are to be acted upon and determined exclusively by Town Meeting Members in accordance with the provisions of the Reading Home Rule Charter. ARTICLE 1 To hear and act on the reports of the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, Library Trustees, Municipal Light Board, Finance Committee, Bylaw Committee, Town Manager, Town Accountant and any other Town Official, Board or Committee. Board of Selectmen ARTICLE 2 To choose all other necessary Town Officers and Boards or Committees and determine what instructions shall be given Town Officers and Boards or Committees, and to see what sum the Town will vote to appropriate by borrowing or transfer from available funds, or otherwise, for the purpose of funding Town Officers and Boards or Committees to carry out the instructions given to them, or take any other action with respect thereto. Board of Selectmen ARTICLE 3 To see if the Town will vote to amend the FY 2017-27 Capital Improvements Program as provided for in Section 7-7 of the Reading Home Rule Charter and as previously amended, or take any other action with respect thereto. Board of Selectmen ARTICLE 4 To see if the Town will vote to amend the vote taken under Article 15 of the May 2010 Annual Town Meeting to further increase the elderly tax exemption specified in Chapter 59, Section 5, Clause 41C of the Massachusetts General Laws from $750.00 to $1,000.00; or take any other action with respect thereto. Board of Selectmen ARTICLE 5 To see if the Town will vote to accept the provision of General Laws Chapter 59, Section 5 added by Chapter 181 of the Acts of 1995, which authorizes an annual increase in the amount of the exemption granted to senior citizens, surviving spouses and surviving minors under General Laws Chapter 59, Section 5, Clause 17D, by up to 100% of the percentage increase in the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the previous year as determined by the Commissioner of Revenue, and to fur that annual increase at 100% of the CPI, to be effective for exemptions granted for any fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2017; or take any other action with respect thereto.. Board of Selectmen ARTICLE 6 To see if the Town will vote to reduce the interest rate specked in any tax deferral and recovery agreement to be entered into pursuant to Chapter 59, Section 5, Clause 41A of the Massachusetts General Laws, for any fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2017, from 8% to 4%; or take any other action with respect thereto. Board of Selectmen ARTICLE 7 To we if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen, on behalf of the Town, to petition the General Court for passage of a special law substantially as provided below. The Legislature may make clerical or editorial changes in form only to the bill, unless the Board of Selectmen approves amendments to the bill before enactment by the Legislature. The Board of Selectmen is hereby authorized to approve amendments that shall be within the scope of the general public objectives of this petition. AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE TOWN OF READING TO ESTABLISH A MEANS TESTED SENIOR CITIZEN PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION SECTION 1. With respect to each qualifying parcel of real property classed as class one, residential in the town of Reading there shall be an exemption from the property tax in an amount to be set annually by the board of selectmen as provided in section 3. The exemption shall be applied to the domicile of the taxpayer only. For the purposes of this act, "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. SECTION 2. The board of assessors may deny an application if they find the applicant has excessive assets that place them outside of the intended recipients of the senior exemption created by this act. Real property shall qualify for the exemption under section 1 if all of the following criteria are met: (a) The qualifying real property is owned and occupied by a person whose prior year's income would make the person eligible for the circuit breaker income tax credit under section 6(k) of chapter 62 of the General Laws; (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 1 of the joint applicants has been domiciled and owned a home in the town of Reading for at least 10 consecutive years before filing an application for the exemption; (e) The maximum 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 Section 6(k) of chapter 62 of the General Laws as adjusted annually by the Department of Revenue; and (f) The board of assessors has approved the application. SECTION 3. The board of selectmen shall annually set the exemption amount provided for in section 1, provided that the amount of the exemption shall be within a range of fifty per cent to two hundred per cent of the amount of the circuit breaker income tax credit under section 6(k) of chapter 62 of the General Laws for which the applicant qualified in the previous year. The total amount exempted by this act shall be allocated proportionally within the tax levy on all residential taxpayers. I SECTION 4. A person who seeks to qualify for the exemption under section 1 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 applicant's income and assets as described in the application. The application shall be fled each year for which the applicant seeks the exemption. SECTION 5. No exemption shall be granted under this act until the Department of Revenue certifies a residential tax rate for the applicable tax year where the total exemption amount is raised by a burden shift within the residential tax levy. SECTION 6. This act shall expire after 3 years of implementation of the exemption or take any other action with respect thereto. Board of Selectmen ARTICLE 8 To hear the reports of the Board of Selectmen, School Committee, Board of Library Trustees and Finance Committee regarding the Town's budgeting for future Fiscal Years, and to provide any advice or guidance or take any other action with respect thereto. Board of Selectmen and you are directed to serve this Warrant by posting an attested copy thereof in at least one (1) public place in each precinct of the Town not less than fourteen (14) days prior to September 12, 2016, or providing in a manner such as electronic submission, holding for pickup or mailing, an attested ropy of said Warrant to each Town Meeting Member. Hereof fail not and make due return of this Warrant with your doings thereon to the Town Clerk at or before the time appointed for said meeting. Given under our hands this 16 M day of August , 2016. John Halsey, Chairman a, Sexton, VzV Ch ' an n, secretary J Are Dan Ensminger SELECTMEN OF READING omae Fceena J}Constable