senior municipal service program rvsd 3-14-11

8/7/2019 Senior Municipal Service Program Rvsd 3-14-11

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Revised ______, 2011 Page 1

Senior Municipal Service ProgramRegulations

Section 1.0 - Background

This program was created through the approval of Article 14 of the 2000 AnnualTown Meeting held on April 24, 2000 accepting the provisions of MassachusettsGeneral Laws, Chapter 59, Section 5K with an effective date of July 1, 2000.

Section 2.0 - Program Regulations

(A) Hourly Rate - The hourly rate of the credit will be the minimum wage ratein Massachusetts.

(B) Eligibility Date July 1, 2000

(C) Income Limitations Resident households with income equal to or lessthan 80 percent of the Towns median income as determined periodicallyby the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are eligible forthis program. The most recent income limits are attached as Appendix C.

(D) Limitation on Type of Work That Volunteers May Do Volunteers shall notbe 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) Deadline for Applications Applications to participate shall be first-come,first-serve but must be received no later than March 31 for the nextcoming fiscal year.

(F) Program Limitations This program shall be limited to a maximumprogram cost of $10,000 per year which shall be charged against theoverlay account. Program participants must be over 60 years of age. Theinitial program abatement is $500. If funds are available at the end ofMarch of any fiscal year, previously approved program participants couldrejoin the program without getting approval again, and work an additionalamount of hours to increase their total abatement at the end of June to amaximum of $750. All abatements are subject to availability of funds inthe overlay account.

(G) The Board of Selectmen must approve all volunteer workers and projectsor work that the volunteer will undertake under this program.


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(H) The volunteer must be a resident of Sturbridge and the property in whichthe volunteer receives the credit toward must be the primary residence ofthe volunteer.

(I) Abatements are limited to one per household. Where two qualifying

persons reside in the same household the maximum abatement shall be$750.

Section 3.0 Miscellaneous Provisions

(A) Accounting for abatements Reductions must be applied to the actual taxbills for the fiscal year. The full tax should be committed and billed, withthe reduction shown on the bill as an abatement or credit against theamount due. All reductions are processed as abatements and chargedagainst the overlay account.

(B) Certification of Service The Board, Committee or Departmentsupervising the taxpayers volunteer services must certify to the Board ofAssessors the amount of services performed by the taxpayer as of thetime the actual tax for the fiscal year is committed. Services performedafter that date would be credited in full toward the next fiscal years actualtax 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 forproperty tax reductions are employees for the purposes of municipal tortliability. The Town is therefore liable for damages for injuries to thirdparties and for indemnification of the volunteers to the same extent asthey are in the case of injuries caused by regular municipal employees.

(D) Eligible Departments The Departments found under Appendix B aredepartments that will accept volunteer workers. This list shall be updatedon an annual basis.


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APPENDIX A

TOWN OF STURBRIDGECERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION OF VOLUNTEER SERVICES

(MGL CH. 59, 5K)

To the Board of Assessors:

______________________________ (taxpayers 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 rate of minimum wage..

_______________________________(Signature of Person Certifying Work)

_______________________________(Board, Committee or Department)

_______________________________(Date)


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APPENDIX BELIGIBLE TOWN BOARDS, COMMITTEES AND DEPARTMENTS

SENIOR MUNICIPAL SERVICE PROGRAM

Police Department

Planning DepartmentPublic Works DepartmentTown ClerkLibraryCouncil on AgingTown Administrator/Board of SelectmenTown BuildingsConservation CommissionBoard of HealthTreasurerAccountant


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APPENDIX C

HUD INCOME LIMITS

Insert most recent HUD income limits here.

senior municipal service program rvsd 3-14-11

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