Water and sewer use charges

If you live in a community that doesn't include water and sewer debt charges in their property tax assessments, you can include, in addition to your own property tax payments, 50% of the actual water and sewer use charges, including stormwater fees, you paid during the tax year when calculating your credit.

Generally, you're allowed to include 50% of the total water and sewer charges you paid when calculating the Circuit Breaker property tax payment. However, certain communities already include water and sewer charges in their taxpayers' real estate tax bills.

To determine if water and sewer fees are included in your real estate tax bill, check your annual property tax assessment for line items labeled "Water," "Sewer," or "Utility," or review your municipal, water, or public works department records.

Key Methods to Verify Water/Sewer Inclusion:

Review Property Tax Bill: Look at your tax bill (often found on your city's Assessor's website ) for line items detailing water/sewer charges.

Contact Local Government: Call your city or town's engineering, public works, or water department to confirm if the property is connected to municipal services.

Include betterments and stormwater fees in the water and sewer use charges if they're directly connected to either constructing, repairing, and/or maintaining a water and sewer system, including sewage treatment plants. The cost to pump a septic tank does not qualify as water and sewer use charge since a private cleaning company cleans those and it is not a charge levied by a city or town. However, charges from a town sewage treatment facility (town health department) for processing septic tank waste and discharging it as a liquid is allowed since the amount is levied by a city or town.