Session Laws

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 59 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 5I the following section:-

Section 5J. A city or town, by adoption of an ordinance or by-law, may establish a special assessment policy for the substantial rehabilitation of owner-occupied residential properties listed in the state register of historic places, either individually or as contributing elements within an historic district. For such properties, the increase in assessed value resulting from such rehabilitation shall be phased in one-fifth increments over a period of five years to the full assessed value of the property; provided, however, that the rehabilitation shall meet the standards of the Massachusetts historical commission in order to be eligible for the phased in special assessment; and provided further, that the secretary of the commonwealth, as chairman of the Massachusetts historical commission, shall promulgate applicable rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section.

SECTION 2. Section 4 of chapter 70 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1994 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 6, the word "fifteen" and inserting in place thereof the following word:- sixteen.

SECTION 3. Section 19B of chapter 78 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out clause (4) and inserting in place thereof the following clause:-

(4) employ trained personnel in accordance with regulations promulgated by the board of library commissioners; provided, however, that in cities of more than one hundred and fifty thousand residents, nothing in said regulations shall prevent the appointing authority from employing a chief executive officer of the library system in addition to the chief librarian.

SECTION 4. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, the joint committee on taxation is hereby authorized and directed to review the effectiveness of the investment tax credit. Said committee shall hold hearings during the fall of nineteen hundred and ninety-six in not less than two locations within the commonwealth, one of which shall be outside the boundaries of the city of Boston. Said committee shall investigate the effectiveness of the investment tax credit, including, but not limited to, the static and dynamic revenue loss, increases in capital investment, job creation, and fiscal cost per job.

Said committee shall report to the general court the results of its investigation and study, and its recommendations, if any, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry its recommendations into effect, by filing the same with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives on or before December fifteenth, nineteen hundred and ninety-six.

SECTION 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, hereinafter referred to as the authority, is hereby authorized and directed to convey the land owned by said authority and bounded by Faneuil street and Washington street in the area known as Oak Square in the Brighton district of the city of Boston to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, hereinafter referred to as the BRA, to be used exclusively for athletic, recreational, and community activities in conjunction with the department of parks and recreation of said city of Boston and the YMCA of Greater Boston. In the event that said property should cease to be used for the above mentioned purposes, said property shall revert to the authority. Said conveyance shall include the leased property owned by the authority located at the eastern intersection of Washington street and the Oak Square rotary subject to the terms of the lease currently in force for that property. Any payments owing on said lease shall continue to be paid to the authority. Said conveyance shall not include the land and appurtenances upon which the substation currently operated by the authority is located, nor shall it include land abutting and within five feet of said substation. Said authority shall retain easements as necessary for access to said substation. At such time as the substation ceases to be used for its current purposes, said authority is hereby authorized and directed to convey said substation and abutting land in the same manner and for the same purposes as stated herein. The terms of the conveyance shall include a requirement that the substation and abutting land be used for the purposes set forth in this section. The BRA shall assume the costs of any appraisals, surveys or other expenses deemed necessary by the authority for the conveyance of the substation property.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect upon its passage.