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

The City of Worcester 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. Worcester’s Assessing Division lists the veterans’ exemption under clause 22 among its personal exemptions, files it on the state’s form, and publishes no amount for it, so the figures here are the statute’s. No council order accepting clause 22I or 22J was found in the city’s online records, and the city’s page names neither. The page says an application is due by April 2 for the current fiscal year, that a taxpayer receives only one personal exemption (the largest one they qualify for), and that a veteran must file each year. The city’s cover letter asks for the DD-214, the VA award letter showing the rating, two years’ proof of Massachusetts residence, and the VA decision on service connection where needed. Chapter 115 benefits, the Commonwealth’s needs-based help with rent, food, fuel and medical costs, are applied for through Worcester 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.