Property held by city, town or district in another city or town for water supply, etc.; purposes; tax liability; stumpage fees

Section 5D. Property held by a city, town or district, including property held by or for the watershed system of the division of watershed management of the metropolitan district commission, and the waterworks system of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, as successors to the metropolitan water district, pursuant to the provisions of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Act, in another city or town for the purpose of a water supply, the protection of its sources or a sewage disposal, or of a public airport if yielding no rent, shall not be liable to taxation therein; but the city, town or district so holding it shall annually on July first, pay to the city or town in which such property is located an amount equal to that which such city or town would receive in taxes upon the average of the assessed taxable valuation of the land, which shall not include buildings or other structures except in the case of land taken for the purpose of protecting the sources of an existing water supply, for the three years last preceding the acquisition thereof, the valuation for each year being reduced by all abatements thereon. Payments made by the division of watershed management of said department and by the metropolitan water and sewer authority pursuant to the provisions of this section for the year when a city or town shall have made a general revaluation of all its real property for purposes of taxation shall not be less than payment made to said city or town for the year immediately preceding the general revaluation. Whenever a city or town in which such land is located shall have made a general revaluation or reassessment of all of its real property for purposes of taxation, the valuation of such land for the purpose of payments authorized by this section shall be determined by the assessors of said city or town as of January first, between January first and June first, in the year succeeding such revaluation or reassessment by dividing the amount of the payment authorized by this section for the year last preceding the revaluation or reassessment by the commercial class tax rate of said city or town for the year of the revaluation or reassessment, so that the payment with respect to such land shall remain substantially the same as that made prior to such revaluation or reassessment. The city, town or district owning such land or the division of watershed management of said department and the metropolitan water and sewer authority, if aggrieved by the determination of the assessors, may within six months after written notice thereof appeal to the appellate tax board. Any part of such land or buildings from which any revenue in the nature of rent is received shall be subject to taxation. Revenue received for the use of such areas of land within the property so held for the purpose of a public airport as are used for the take-off and landing of aircraft, including runways and taxi strips, or for the use of buildings on such property which are used as a terminal or administration building or for housing, servicing and repairing aircraft, shall not be deemed to be rent or revenue in the nature of rent within the meaning of this paragraph.

If such land is part of a larger tract which has been assessed as a whole, its assessed valuation in any year shall be taken to be that proportional part of the valuation of the whole tract which the value of the land so acquired, exclusive of buildings, bore in such year to the value of the whole tract.

In addition to the tax payment hereinbefore provided, any municipality that owns watershed land located in another municipality shall pay annually to the municipality wherein such land is located, a stumpage fee equal to eight per cent of the stumpage value of all forest products cut therefrom with authorization of the owner.

The provisions of chapter sixty-one shall apply to the payment of stumpage fees hereunder.