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AC–2015ATM PPROPRIATIONOMMITTEE FundsFundingCommittee Article 32: Establish Qualifications RequestedSourceRecommendation for Tax Deferrals IP NoneN/A This Article is routinely included in the Warrant to give Town Meeting an opportunity to adjust the quali- fications for tax deferrals (see Appendix D). As of publication, the committee was not aware of any proposed changes. If the Article is indefinitely postponed, the previously established qualifications will remain in effect. The Committee expects action on this Article will be indefinitely postponed. FundsFundingCommittee Article 33: Authorize Home Rule RequestedSourceRecommendation Petition for Tax Relief IP NoneN/A This article proposes to authorize the Board of Selectmen to petition the General Court for an act to pro- vide Lexington with a locally controlled means-tested senior citizen property tax exemption similar to the program in Sudbury, Massachusetts. At Sudbury's request, the General Court enacted Chapter 169 of the Acts of 2012 which permitted Sud- bury to cap property taxes at 10% of household incomes for qualifying seniors. To qualify, a senior Sud- bury resident must (a) live in the property they own and have resided in Sudbury for 10 years, and (b) the value of the home must not exceed 110% of the previous year's average assessed value of a single family home. In 2012 the average was roughly $621,000. The cost of this is borne by the remaining taxpayers. The Board of Selectmen voted to defer this request. The Committee expects action on this Article will be indefinitely postponed. FundsFundingCommittee Article 34: Accept MGL c. 59, § 5, RequestedSourceRecommendation Clause 54 and Set Personal Property Minimum Tax Approve (8-0) NoneN/A If approved, this request would accept Massachusetts General Law Chapter 59, § 5, Clause 54, which ex- empts Personal Property (a component of the tax on businesses) from taxation if it is below a minimum value established by the City or Town. The law requires that minimum be set at $10,000 or less. The Board of Selectmen requests that the Personal Property minimum value be set at $2,000. This action is being sought due the increasing cost required to service smaller Personal Property accounts, and their accordingly small yields, both individually and as a group. The Town has 862 active Personal Property Tax accounts, with a total assessed value of $180 million, which generate $5,238,814 in taxes. The cost to administer each account is estimated at $50, which consists of assessing the property, creating and distributing tax bills and enforcing payment. Out of the 862 Personal Property accounts, 241 have an assessed value of $2,000 or less. The average tax bill from this group is $30, and the total group tax contribution is $7,219, with an estimated collection cost of $9,640. The Committee recommends approval of this request (8-0). 38