Senator Patricia Jehlen was elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 2005. She represents Medford, Somerville, and parts of Winchester and Cambridge.Senator Jehlen serves as Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs, and as Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy. Senator Jehlen also serves on the Committees on Ways and Means, Revenue, and Community Development and Small Businesses.
This legislation proposes increasing the local option cap to $80,000. Certain homeowners 65 years of age and older currently have the option to defer paying their property taxes. Under existing law, this is a local option that is capped at the maximum allowance under the senior circuit breaker for a single person who is not head of household ($57,000 for t/y 2016). Given the high cost-of-living in MA, this is low & penalizes "house rich & cash poor” seniors living on fixed incomes which exceed the threshold.