Correction: Clarifying the Senior Circuit Breaker Implementation Proposal

Slipped Up on the Summary, But We’re Back with the Breakdown

In our recent newsletter, we misstated what the Select Board would be discussing regarding senior property tax relief. Specifically, we suggested they’d be debating lowering the age threshold—but that change has already been approved. You can find it under Warrant Article 28 at this year’s Town Meeting. 

https://williamstownma.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Williamstown-Warrant-Full-2025.pdf

What’s actually on Monday’s agenda is the implementation of Warrant Article 38, passed at the 2024 Town Meeting, which allows Williamstown to provide a local property tax exemption for income-eligible seniors that matches the amount of their state Circuit Breaker tax credit—anywhere from 1% to 150%. 

https://williamstownma.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Williamstown-Warrant-2024.pdf

Select Board member Stephanie Boyd reached out to let us know we got it wrong and also responded to a commenter asking for clarification. Thanks for jumping in and helping clarify.

We appreciate the correction and want to take a moment to explain what’s actually happening—along with why it matters.

What’s on the table?

At Monday’s meeting, the Select Board will be deciding how much of a match the town should offer to qualifying seniors. The draft proposal in the meeting packet— titled “Proposed Language”—suggests a 100% match. 

The credit is set annually by the Select Board with the total cost of the program capped at up to 1% of the town's residential tax levy.

This year’s formula

The total benefit—Williamstown match + state Circuit Breaker credit—can’t be more than what the resident paid in property taxes, minus 10% of their income.

In math terms:

Williamstown exemption + State credit ≤ Property taxes paid – (10% of income)

Real-world example:

Let’s say:

• You paid $4,000 in property taxes last year
• Your income was $30,000
• You received a $1,200 state credit

Then:

• 10% of your income = $3,000
• $4,000 – $3,000 = $1,000 cap
• Since your state credit was $1,200, the town could only match $1,000 of it

Who’s eligible?

Only those who already qualify for and receive the state’s Circuit Breaker tax creditare eligible. That includes being 65 or older, along with meeting income and residency requirements. These eligibility rules are not being changed.

A Note on Accessibility

Our mistake has also prompted us to reflect on the accessibility of civic information in Williamstown.

Meeting packets—the primary way residents access town policy proposals—are often:

• Written in dense legal language
• Uploaded as scanned image files (not searchable PDFs)
• Incompatible with screen readers or other accessibility tools
• Sometimes there are links in scanned PDFs, rendering the links unclickable

In trying to clarify the proposal for our readers, we ran into additional barriers:

• We can’t easily link directly to a specific article, only to the full meeting packet
• References to legal sections are often unclear (is it state law or local?)
• There’s no way for residents to easily navigate or cross-reference the material
• The link in the NEW PROPOSAL.pdf gives a 404 error

All of this makes it harder for many residents — ourselves included — to fully understand and engage with decisions that directly affect our taxes, housing, and services.

If we want meaningful public participation, especially around complex topics like tax policy, we need to provide clear, navigable, and accessible information.

We again thank Stephanie Boyd for stepping in to ensure accurate information was shared and giving an explanation in her comments.

At Civics Corner, we’re committed to helping bridge this accessibility gap, because civic engagement only works when people can actually access the civic part.

Thanks for sticking with us as we work to get it right—and make it readable.c

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