 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2024) |
Massachusetts has four types of taxes: individual taxes, business taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes. [1]
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2024) |
Massachusetts has four types of taxes: individual taxes, business taxes, sales taxes, and property taxes. [1]
Massachusetts allows for tax reductions based upon different factors.
Chapter 61 is a voluntary current use program designed by the Massachusetts Legislature to tax real property in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts at its resources value rather than its highest and best use (development) value. Landowners who enroll their land in the program receive property tax reductions in exchange for a lien on their property. [2]
There are three types of Chapter 61 programs: [2]
Under Chapter 61, in order to qualify for the Chapter 61 program, a parcel of real property must be at least 10 acres (40,000 m2) contiguous and under the same ownership. Prior to approval, the landowner must establish a forest management plan for the affected property and have it approved by a state certified forester. Only the wooded and undeveloped portions of the land may be enrolled in the program. The tax reduction is based upon the market value of the potential forestry products the land can produce. [2]
Under 61A, the property for agricultural use must be at least 5 acres, and the reduction in tax is based on the market value of farm products the land can support. The land may also be used for forestland, but, if so, the landowner must produce a 10-year forest management plan. [2]
Under 61B, the property for open space and recreation must be at least 5 acres. The tax reduction is 75% of its assessed value, and working with forest management is optional. [2] The land must "available to the general public or to members of a non-profit organization including a corporation organized under chapter one hundred and eighty." [3]
Chapter 61 was created in the 1970s and it was amended in 2006. [4]
Chapter 61B grants municipalities a right of first refusal (ROFR) on land that is classified as recreational, thereby allowing municipalities to purchase the land before it's sold or converted to a non-recreational use.
In Chapter 61 Section 2, Massachusetts designates golf courses as eligible for current use assessment as a type of open space or recreational land use. [5] [6] Under Section 38, it is assessed as [property]. [7]
In the Town of Belmont, attention turned to Belmont Country Club, tax-exempt since 1945 [8] , which received close to $4 million in tax breaks in the last ten years. [9] On November 13, 2023, the Town of Belmont held a town hall meeting which approved a citizen-brought motion by a vote of 229-3, with one abstention, to end the 61B exclusion for the Belmont Country Club. [10] The citizens, taxpayers, were dissatisfied that the Belmont Country Club had received more than $4 million in tax breaks in the past ten years due to Chapter 61B provisions.
The Home Rule Petition, which seeks to exclude the town of Belmont from the provisions of 61B, was filed in the 194th session (2025) as Bill HD.1618, a bill entitled "An Act updating the tax treatment of recreational lands in the town of Belmont." The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Brownsberger and Rep. Rogers.
On Monday, March 11, 2024, at a town hill meeting in Swampscott, MA, the vote was in favor of exempting the Tedesco Country Club from the provisions of 61B, a discussion that was led by Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald. [11] A Home Rule Petition that seeks to exclude the town of Swampscott from the provisions of 61B was filed in the 194th Session (2025) as Bill HD.3917, a bill entitled "An Act updating the tax treatment of recreational lands in the town of Swampscott." The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Balinsky Armini and Rep. Crighton.
Attention in Newton, MA, is being turned to its three golf courses, the Brae Burn Country Club, Woodland Golf Club, and Charles River Club of Auburndale. Newton City Councilor Vicky Danberg has stated, "I can tell you very few people have sympathy for the poor golfers from these clubs who are crying poverty." [12] Former president of Newton's firefighters' union Frannie Capello said Newton's country clubs will often open up their courses once a year to the city's firefighters. While firefighters much appreciate that, he said, he didn't think it was worth the revenue lost to the city, citing the City 's struggle to find ways to pay for much needed repair of fire stations. [12] Responded one reader, “No one is asking them to fold, and given the wealth of the members, that will never happen. All anyone is asking is that they pay their fair share, just like small local businesses and residents do.” [12]
Massachusetts country clubs taking advantage of the 61B tax are also in Framingham and in Marlborough, such as the Marlborough Country Club. [12] A private golf course, Marlbouro Country Club is, however, open to the public Mondays and Tuesdays. The tax-exempt Sankaty Head Golf Club Inc. [13] is open to the public during its off-season, from October to May.
Not all Massachusetts golf clubs ask for the tax break. The Country Club, in Brookline, with two golf courses, does not. [14] The Oakley Country Club, an 88-acre golf club in Watertown MA, pays its full tax bill. [15]
