Chicopee Veterans’ Property Tax Exemptions (Clauses 22 to 22F)

The City of Chicopee grants the veterans’ exemptions of G.L. c. 59, s. 5, clauses 22 to 22F, through its board of assessors. The statute sets them as dollars off the tax bill, $400 under clause 22, $750, $1,250 and $1,500 under 22A to 22C and $1,000 under 22E, and exempts the whole domicile under 22D and 22F; a city can add to them only by accepting a local option, clause 22I, clause 22J or section 5C½. Every figure on this entry carries its source and the day it was read. The City Council’s minutes of June 17, 2025 record order MO-6, accepting clause 22J for clauses 22, 22A, 22B, 22C and 22E, passed by a unanimous roll call. Clause 22J lets a city add up to 100 percent of the exemption, in a uniform amount its council sets before the fiscal year begins; the order as recorded states no percentage, and the assessors’ fiscal 2027 exemption guidelines (revised June 10, 2026) say only that the clause 22 amount varies by exemption. Ask the assessors for the amount on this year’s bill. The assessors’ property tax assistance page asks for six months’ Massachusetts domicile before entering service or five consecutive years before filing, where the statute now says two, and the fiscal 2027 guidelines ask a first-time filer for the DD-214 and a VA letter dated July 1, 2026. The city also runs a veterans’ work-off program. Chapter 115 benefits, the Commonwealth’s needs-based help with rent, food, fuel and medical costs, are applied for through Chicopee Veterans Services. Their amounts are set by the Commonwealth and are the same in every city and town; the statewide chapter 115 entry describes them.