# Massachusetts H 3979: An Act authorizing the City of Melrose to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption Massachusetts H 3979, An Act authorizing the City of Melrose to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by Kate Lipper-Garabedian (Democratic); status signed, last action 2025-09-26 (Signed by the Governor, Chapter 35 of the Acts of 2025); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-11-01). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H3979-194 - As of: 2026-11-01 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Massachusetts H 3979 - State: Massachusetts - Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026) - Title: An Act authorizing the City of Melrose to establish a means tested senior citizen property tax exemption - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-03-31 - Last action: 2025-09-26, Signed by the Governor, Chapter 35 of the Acts of 2025 - Sponsor: Kate Lipper-Garabedian (Democratic) - Cosponsors: 0 - Subjects: Revenue, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling - Touches household money: yes - Economic provisions PRIA read: 3 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Melrose tax break for senior homeowners: benefit, high. Melrose gives a property tax exemption for your owner‑occupied home. The amount equals the circuit breaker credit you qualified for last year. You must meet circuit breaker income rules and age rules (65+; for joint owners, one 65+ and the other 60+). You must have owned and lived in a Melrose home… - Relief starts after state certifies rate: cost, low. No exemption is granted until the Massachusetts Department of Revenue certifies the residential tax rate for that year. The certification makes sure the total exemptions are funded by a shift within the residential tax levy. This can delay when you see the tax cut. It does not change who qualifies… - Melrose senior tax break is temporary: mixed, medium. The law takes effect immediately. It replaces Chapter 100 of the Acts of 2022. The Melrose exemption program ends after three years unless lawmakers extend it. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Kate Lipper-Garabedian (Democratic), House ## Actions (14) - 2025-09-26: Signed by the Governor, Chapter 35 of the Acts of 2025 - 2025-09-18: Enacted and laid before the Governor (Senate) - 2025-09-17: Enacted (House) - 2025-09-15: Read second, ordered to a third reading, read third (title changed) and passed to be engrossed (Senate) - 2025-09-15: Taken out of the Orders of the Day (Senate) - 2025-08-14: Read; and placed in the Orders of the Day for the next session (Senate) - 2025-08-11: Read third and passed to be engrossed (House) - 2025-07-31: Read second and ordered to a third reading (House) - 2025-07-31: Rules suspended (House) - 2025-07-31: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting (House) - 2025-07-28: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling (House) - 2025-05-08: Hearing scheduled for 05/13/2025 from 10:30 AM-01:00 PM in A-1 (legislature) - 2025-04-03: Senate concurred (Senate) - 2025-03-31: Referred to the committee on Revenue (House) ## Bill text - Chapter 35 of the Acts of 2025, 2025-09-26: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H3979.pdf) ## Related bills - H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax abatements (signed) - H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police chief Neal Hovey (passed senate) - H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G.L. chapter 59, section 5, clauses seventeenth D and forty-first C in the town o… (passed house) - H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust to acquire year-round housing occupancy restrictions (signed) - H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nicholas Spinale (second reading) - H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the position of firefighter in the town of Dudley (signed) ## Sources - [Chapter 35 of the Acts of 2025 (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H3979.pdf) ## Related - [H 4585: An Act authorizing the town of Auburn to offer expanded senior property tax aba…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4585-194) - [H 5435: An Act authorizing the town of Topsfield to continue to employment of police ch…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5435-194) - [H 5515: An Act to increase the value of estates eligible for abatements pursuant to M.G…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5515-194) - [H 3909: An Act authorizing the Provincetown year-round market rate rental housing trust…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H3909-194) - [H 5429: An Act providing injured on duty compensation to Chelmsford firefighter Nichola…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5429-194) - [H 5520: An Act exempting George Patrinos from the maximum age requirement age for the p…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H5520-194) - [Massachusetts bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/massachusetts/bills) - [Massachusetts state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/massachusetts) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H3979-194 (as of 2026-11-01).