Senior Municipal Service Program
Regulations
Section 1.0 - Background
This program was created through the approval of Article 18 of the 2005 Annual Town Meeting held on May 23, 2005 accepting the provisions of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 59, Section 5K with an effective date of July 1, 2005.
Section 2.0 - Program Regulations
(A)Hourly Rate - The hourly rate of the credit will be $8.00 per hour and will be adjusted at such times as the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or United States Government increases the minimum wage above this level.
(B)Eligibility Date – July 1, 2005
(C)Income Limitations – As of April 5, 2010, there is no income limit for this program.
(D)Limitation on Type of Work That Volunteers May Do – Volunteers shall not be involved in the following areas:
1)Any police or fire related activities other than office related work.
2)Operation of heavy equipment.
3)Work that involves confidential information.
4)Work that involves specific licenses that the volunteer does not have.
(E)Program Limitations – This program shall be limited to a maximum program cost of $10,000 per year which shall be charged against the overlay account. Program participants must be over 60 years of age. The maximum credit is $750.
(F)The Board of Selectmen must approve all volunteer workers under this program, approving the volunteer and the project or work that the volunteer will undertake.
(G)The volunteer must be a resident of Paxton and the property in which the volunteer receives the credit toward must be the primary residence of the volunteer.
Section 3.0 – Miscellaneous Provisions
(A)Accounting for abatements – Reductions must be applied to the actual tax bills for the fiscal year. The full tax should be committed and billed, with the reduction shown on the bill as an abatement or credit against the amount due. All reductions are processed as abatements and charged against the overlay account.
(B)Certification of Service – The Board, Committee or Department supervising the taxpayer’s volunteer services must certify to the Board of Assessors the amount of services performed by the taxpayer as of the time the actual tax for the fiscal year is committed. Services performed after that date would be credited in full toward the next fiscal year’s actual tax bill and will count toward the maximum stated in Section 2.0 (E) above. The form found in Appendix A must be used for this certification.
(C)Status of Volunteers – Taxpayers performing services in return for property tax reductions are employees for the purposes of municipal tort liability. The Town will therefore be liable for damages for injuries to third parties and for indemnification of the volunteers to the same extent as they are in the case of injuries caused by regular municipal employees.
(D)Eligible Departments – The Departments found under Appendix B are departments that will accept volunteer workers. This list shall be updated on an annual basis.
APPENDIX A
TOWN OF PAXTON
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION OF VOLUNTEER SERVICES
(MGL CH. 59, §5K)
To the Board of Assessors:
______(taxpayer’s name), the owner of a parcel at ______(property address) has completed ______hours of volunteer work to be credited toward the fiscal year _____ tax assessed on the parcel at the address listed above at the current Massachusetts minimum wage rate.
______
(Signature of Person Certifying Work)
______
(Board, Committee or Department)
______
(Date)
APPENDIX B
ELIGIBLE TOWN BOARDS, COMMITTEES AND DEPARTMENTS
SENIOR MUNICIPAL SERVICE PROGRAM
Police Department
Planning Department
Public Works Department
Town Clerk
Library
Council on Aging
Town Administrator/Board of Selectmen
Conservation Commission
Board of Health
Treasurer
Accountant
Town Service Coordinator
Recreation Department
Fire Department – Clerical
Building Commissioner
Department of Emergency Management
Adopted June 7, 2005