Pittsfield Accepting Applications for Senior Tax Work-Off Program

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PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The City of Pittsfield is now accepting applications for its Senior Tax Work-Off Program for Fiscal Year 2026.

To be eligible, applicants must be owners of residential property in Pittsfield and 60 years of age or older at the time of application.

Completed program applications must be postmarked or received by the Assessors' Office by May 30, 2025. Current municipal employees are not eligible to participate.

The program allows for a maximum of two participants per eligible property, with a total tax abatement limit of $2,000 per property. The tax work-off abatement, whether used alone or in combination with other exemptions, cannot exceed the annual taxes owed to the city. Income eligibility will be determined based on locally adopted guidelines derived from Massachusetts General Law Chapter 59, Section 5, clause 41D, with an additional $5,000 allowance. Participant selection will be based on financial need and will be valid for one year.

Qualified volunteers who are not initially selected for the program will be placed on a waiting list based on need, should other opportunities arise. The city is not obligated to offer an alternative position if a volunteer declines an assignment.

Income limits for the program are set at a maximum yearly income of $46,106 for married applicants and $38,798 for individual applicants. All volunteer work must be completed between June 1, 2025, and Nov. 30, 2025.

The program application is available on the city's website at http://cityofpittsfield.org/city_hall/board_of_assessors/index.php. Applications can also be obtained at the Assessors' Office, located in City Hall, Room 108, 70 Allen St.

For additional information, contact the Assessors' Office at (413) 395-0102.

 

 

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Dalton Considers Updating its Municipal Code

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — The town is considering updating its original 18-year municipal code to 2026 standards. 
 
During a recent Select Board meeting, General Code New England account manager Zach Dumont outlined the 18- to-24 month process. 
 
General Code New England is a division of the International Code Council, which writes all the statewide building codes across the United States. For the last 18 years, the organization has been the codifier for municipalities. 
 
"We work with communities to build, maintain, and update your local municipal code. That is your collection of bylaws, ordinances, regulations, and any other legislation you've ever adopted," Dumont said. 
 
Once the project is complete, the town would have a fully updated set of books and an improved eCode360 site, he said. 
 
"The way the process would work is we would put together a scope of work, a timeline, a price point, and everything that we would want to touch or do as a part of the code project," Dumont said. 
 
When a municipal code is built, it has a general lifespan of about 15 to 20 years, and although that is a long time, it goes by very quickly, he said. 
 
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