# Massachusetts H 4687: An Act relative to property tax classifications in the city of Watertown for fiscal year 2027 and subsequent fiscal years

Massachusetts H 4687, An Act relative to property tax classifications in the city of Watertown for fiscal year 2027 and subsequent fiscal years, is a 194th General Court (2025-2026) House bill sponsored by John J. Lawn Jr. (Democratic), Steven Owens (Democratic); status second reading, last action 2026-07-08 (New draft substituted, see H5569) (as of 2026-11-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4687-194
- 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 4687
- State: Massachusetts
- Session: 194th General Court (2025-2026)
- Title: An Act relative to property tax classifications in the city of Watertown for fiscal year 2027 and subsequent fiscal years
- Status: second reading
- Chamber: House
- Introduced: 2025-09-29
- Last action: 2026-07-08, New draft substituted, see H5569
- Sponsors: John J. Lawn Jr. (Democratic), Steven Owens (Democratic)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Subjects: House Rules, Joint Rules, reported, rules suspended and referred to the committee on Revenue, House Ways and Means, House Steering, Policy and Scheduling with the amendment pending
- Touches household money: no
- Roll calls: 2 (36 yes, 0 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 0

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview

No economic impacts identified for this bill.

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: John J. Lawn Jr. (Democratic), House
- Sponsor: Steven Owens (Democratic), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-07-08 | committee | Committee Favorable with Amendment: H.4687 “An Act relative to property tax classifications in the city of Watertown for fiscal year 2027 and subsequent fiscal years” as amended | pass | 27 | 0 |   |
| 2026-06-25 | committee | Committee Favorable: Favorable | pass | 9 | 0 | 1 |

## Actions (13)

- 2026-07-08: New draft substituted, see H5569 (House)
- 2026-07-08: Read second, amended (as recommended by the committee on House Ways and Means) (House)
- 2026-07-08: Rules suspended (House)
- 2026-07-08: Committee reported that the matter be placed in the Orders of the Day for the next sitting for a second reading with the amendment pending (House)
- 2026-07-08: Referred to the committee on House Steering, Policy and Scheduling with the amendment pending (House)
- 2026-07-08: Committee recommended ought to pass with an amendment, substituting therefor a bill with the same title, see H5569 (House)
- 2026-07-06: Bill reported favorably by committee and referred to the committee on House Ways and Means (House)
- 2026-03-09: Reported date extended to Friday, June 26, 2026 (House)
- 2026-01-27: Hearing rescheduled to 01/27/2026 from 01:00 PM-02:25 PM in A-1 and Virtual<br> <span style="color: blue; font-style: italic;">Hearing updated to New End Time</span> (legislature)
- 2026-01-16: Hearing scheduled for 01/27/2026 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-1 & A-2 (legislature)
- 2025-10-30: Senate concurred (Senate)
- 2025-10-16: Reported, referred to the committee on Joint Rules, reported, rules suspended and referred to the committee on Revenue (House)
- 2025-09-29: Referred to the committee on House Rules (House)

## Bill text

- As Filed: [PDF](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4687.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 4755: An Act amending the means tested senior citizen property tax exemption in the town of Sudbury (signed)
- 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)

## Sources
- [As Filed (PDF)](https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/H4687.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 4755: An Act amending the means tested senior citizen property tax exemption in the t…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/MA-H4755-194)
- [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)
- [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-H4687-194 (as of 2026-11-01).